Villagers in Adunu, Kwagana and adjoining communities in Paikoro Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger have raised the alarm that the 56 villagers abducted by bandits are not among those reportedly rescued by the military.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that about 20 military vehicles loaded with soldiers from Kaduna had stormed Niger forests last week and combed all the bandits’ criminal hideouts in Tshohon Kabula, Mangoro, Zagzaga, Pole wire and Kazai where they (Soldiers) engaged the gunmen in a fierce gun battle, leading to the rescue of the victims.
Speaking to our correspondent, leader of the Adunu Pressure Group, Sebastian Mai’Karfi said the bandits had reportedly demanded N200 million ransom to release the 56 abductees of Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
It be recalled Adunu and Kwagana districts of Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger were thrown into mourning following the gruesome murder of medical personnel, Joshua Bitrus Galadima and the abduction of 56 other persons to an unknown destination.
Reacting to reports in some quarters of the media which filtered all over that the Nigerian Army had rescued over 100 kidnapped victims in Niger including the Adunu 56, Mai’Karfi said “it was a falsified stage-like farce”.
According to him, “when the news came, our community went agog with great jubilation and expectant joy by a blind blatant, but, false media hysteria that the 56 kidnapped victims had been released.
“Emissaries from the Palace of the District Head of Adunu were immediately sent to the 44 Military Hospital Kaduna, where they were said to have been receiving medical treatment by military doctors and nurses.
“Again, this turned out to be false. It was a mere elaborate hoax fabricated by mischief makers and some lilly-itchy fingers and lousy noisy liars. The 56 villagers are not among those they claimed to have been rescued”.
He added that the fake news had thrown the whole of Adunu communities and her neighbour of Kwagana into a kind of triple whammy; because bandits invaded these communities one week after the Presidential and Senatorial elections on 25th February 2025 across the country
Accordingly, he said “they (Bandits) had a field day for more than 8 hours, killed, broke into residential houses, looted shops and kidnapped their victims.
“All these happened unchallenged and there’s yet to be an official government visit to the Adunu – Kwagana districts.
“The only visit was the ballot boxes accompanied by INEC officials to conduct Gubernotorial and States Assembly elections in Adunu and Kwagana wards, on 18th March 2025 which was sternly but firmly resisted by the moaning members whose loved ones were still in the bush in the hands of the kidnappers”.
“The release of the three kidnapped victims was a subtle guise to go scout for ransome since they were kidnapped along with their husbands.”
Also, an indigene of Adunu, Marcus Bahago called on the government to establish strong Police posts in all aforementioned wards; put a permanent joint task force of military and others within Adunu to check the excesses of these elements.
“The security agents to swing into action in order to rescue the kidnapped victims and we want a reenact the Abdulkadir Kure Law on Local Government’s creation- when a local Government is close to the people, their security is relatively protected”.
Furthermore, he expressed fears that “unless something is done fast, the indigenous people of Ishau, Ammale, Adunu, Kwagana, Kaffinkoro, Chimbi and Kwakuti may wake up to the impending eminent calamitous sweep of their entire communities”.
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