- Villagers from Sabuwar Gayan village lament the failure of government to tackle kidnappers in their community
- The protest by the aggrieved villagers cause traffic along the Kaduna-Abuja highway
- The Department of State Security (DSS ) accuses some individuals in the armed forces and other security agencies of been behind the sale of small arms in the country
Hundreds of villagers on Sunday, November 12, blocked the Kaduna-Abuja highway, protesting the killing of the commander of civilian, JTF Haruna Halilu, in their community by suspected kidnappers.
The villagers, who are from Sabuwar Gayan, a village along the highway in Chikun local government of area of Kaduna state, blocked the road around 2.05pm, lamenting the failure of government to tackle the kidnappers.
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Bearing Dane guns, sticks, machetes and other weapons, the villagers who were mostly women, children and youths said their village had been taken over by the kidnappers.
The situation caused heavy gridlock as both lanes of the road were blocked for two hours.
Umar Ibrahim, commander, Kaduna state sector command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna that the incident caused vehicular gridlock that spanned up to 17 kilometres on the highway.
Around 3.30pm, patrol vans of both soldiers and policemen numbering about 10 arrived the location but were not able to clear the road until 4pm.
A member of the civilian JTF in the community, Yahaya Ahmed, said the kidnappers went to the farm of their commander, Haruna Halilu, and killed him.
“They went to his farm, killed him and ran away. His offence was that he has been mobilising youths against them. That’s all. Oga Haruna left behind two wives and 10 children,” he said.
A different source said Halilu was in his farm harvesting maize with three other people assisting him when six men on motorbikes arrived and killed him while his companions fled.
Ahmed who gave further insights to the activities of kidnappers in the locality, said more than half of the villagers had relocated because of the activities of the kidnappers.
“We know where they are, they kidnap our people at will and if you go against their order, they will kill you. Because of them, I have not been able to harvest my grains. If you are lucky, they will call you on phone and demand money. If you see to their request, good for you, otherwise they will come for you,” he said.
A youth leader said the kidnappers had recently become deadlier.
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“Unlike before that if they kidnapped you, they would demand ransom and after payment, you would be released. It is a different thing entirely now. If they kidnapped you, they would demand ransom and anybody that takes it to them will also be kidnapped. This is why nobody wants to take ransom to them. If they kill their victim, they will still demand money before the person’s corpse would be released,” the youth leader said.
A commercial driver also said of the rampaging kidnappers, “We are all victims. Daily, they kidnap our colleagues and collect ransom. If you have a flat tyre, don’t stop. If you do, you are gone.”
The gridlock caused by the protesters was so complex that after the protesters were dispersed, the gridlock continued for many hours.
When contacted, the Kaduna state police public relations officer, ASP Mukhtar Aliyu confirmed the incident. He said, “We got information that some protesting youths blocked the Kaduna-Abuja highway,” adding that the assistant commissioner of operations was on ground to curtail the situation.
Meanwhile, the Department of State Security (DSS ) has accused some individuals in the armed forces and other security agencies of been behind the sale of small arms in the country.
A director of the service, Godwin Eteng, made the accusation when he appeared before the House of Representatives joint committee on customs and excise and national intelligence investigating the influx of small arms and light weapons into the country, This Day reports.
The operative alleged that some people with criminal records where serving in some of the security services.
NAIJ.com visits kidnappers' den discovered in Lagos on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng