Communities in Kaduna Sound Alarm Over Persistent Killings and Abductions

Residents of the Akurmi community in Kaduna State’s Lere Local Government Area have issued a urgent appeal over continuous violent attacks by bandits, citing killings, mass abductions, and the displacement of villagers from their farmlands.

According to community leaders, at least 12 people have been killed and 59 others abducted since October 2025, with many captives still held. The situation has forced numerous residents to flee their homes.

Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna on Tuesday, Yakubu Maigamo, President of the Akurmi Development Association, described a severe and worsening security crisis.

“Are we still part of Nigeria, or have Akurmi lives become disposable?” Maigamo asked, lamenting that ancestral farmlands have become “graveyards and forests of fear.”

He detailed coordinated attacks across multiple communities in Lere and neighboring Kauru local government areas, noting that families are being forced to sell their harvests to pay ransoms.

While acknowledging government efforts, Maigamo pleaded for the immediate and permanent deployment of security forces to the area.

In a related development, the Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressives Union warned that fragile peace in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area is under threat. The union reported the recent killing of a former councillor, Auwal Magaji Kwaga, and widespread destruction of farmlands during the last farming season.

The union’s chairman, Dr. Isah Muhammad, stated that over 182 hectares of crops were destroyed across 173 farms, causing losses estimated in hundreds of millions of naira.

The Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, said he would engage with the communities, but had not issued a statement at the time of reporting.

This alert follows a recent incident in Kajuru Local Government, where 80 worshippers escaped abduction during a bandit attack on the Kurmin Wali community.