Bandits abduct 22 on Abuja-Kaduna expressway

Bandits have abducted at least 22 people in Jere town on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

This is coming barely 24 hours after the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, visited the road and declared it accessible.

The terrorist attack happened on the night of Sunday, April 3, 2022, at about 11 pm.

Pulse gathered that the bandits, numbering about 50, wore military uniforms and were armed with AK-47 rifles.

In a related development, a security operative and two other persons have been killed by bandits in Tsafe town, the headquarters of Tsafe Local Government Area (LGA) of Zamfara state.

The bandits invaded Tsafe from the eastern part of the town at about 8:30 pm on Sunday and started shooting sporadically.

They killed three persons, including the son of Mamman Tsafe, the Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs in Zamfara and a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG).

Residents believe that Sunday’s bandits' attack is a reprisal one. The Yan Sa Kai vigilante group had reportedly killed a Fulani man. This is believed to have infuriated the bandits, who are majorly people of Fulani extraction.

Northwest and north-central Nigerian states have long been afflicted by violence fuelled by disputes over access to land and resources, among other factors.

Heavily armed gangs have taken advantage of the lack of effective policing to launch attacks, pillage villages, steal cattle and kidnap for ransom.

But violence has recently become more widespread, piling pressure on the federal government – already battling the Boko Haram armed group.