Mr. Samuel Aruwan, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, reported that 360 persons were killed by bandits between January and March 2022.
The commissioner stated this when he presented the state governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, with the 2022 First Quarter Security Report on Thursday in Kaduna.
He stated that 1,389 people were abducted inside the Kaduna Central Senatorial District during the time under consideration.
Birnin Gwari had 169 people abducted, Giwa had 158, Igabi had 263, Chikun had 287, and Kajuru had 203 people taken from the Local Government Area.
During the same time period, he claims that 249 persons were abducted as a result of banditry and other violent incidents in the Southern Kaduna Senatorial District.
The commissioner also said 10 women, including six minors, were reported to have been raped by bandits within the same period.
He explained that 258 citizens were injured across the state due to banditry, and communal clashes, saying that 38 of these figures were women and 11 below the age of 18.
Aruwan said 3,251 animals were rustled during the period, out of which 3,137 were stolen from Kaduna Central, accounting for 97 percent of the total.
“Some 41 bandits were neutralized by the ground force while more than 60 were neutralized through various airstrikes carried out at identified bandit camps within the state.
“Arms intercepted included 18 AK47 rifles, 7 sub-machine guns, 5 pump action rifles and ammunition which includes 22 AK47 magazines, 254 pump action cartridges, and 1,195 rounds of live ammunition,’’ he said.
The commissioner said that bandits and other criminals carried out their attacks under the influence of various substances, adding that the purchase of drugs by bandits constitutes a major component of their expenditure.
Aruwa further stated that the NDLEA, during the period, arrested several suspected drug traffickers and users, including 223 males and 8 females.
“The state government will continue to collaborate with federal security agencies and stakeholders in their operations and support respectively within the state.
“The state government further called for the establishment of a theatre to tackle terrorism and banditry in the Northwest, just like what exists in the Northeast,’’ he said.
“The state government will continue to seek the active collaboration of citizens in its efforts against banditry and all forms of insecurity through the volunteering of useful information on suspicious activities,’’ he said.
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