Kaduna State, Nigeria — October 30, 2025 | Dalena Reporters
In a chilling display of escalating violence, heavily armed gunmen carried out coordinated attacks across villages in the Kajuru Local Government Area and Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Thursday evening, abducting multiple residents — including women, children and a six-month-old baby. The incidents mark another distressing milestone in the region’s persistent insecurity crisis.
According to eyewitnesses, the assailants — described as wearing military-style gear and wielding sophisticated firearms — attacked the communities of Agwallan Centre, Janwuriya and Afogo in Kajuru LGA. They ambushed residents returning from farms, in what locals termed “a predawn sweep”. Afterward, a second contingent struck the villages of Kallah and Aokpeshura.
Among those taken from Kallah were: 29-year-old Simon Audi, 23-year-old Beuty Audu, and the infant Holliness Simon, aged just six months. The attackers forcibly entered homes, reportedly dragging victims into motorcycles and vans before vanishing into the forest belt that links the two LGAs.
Security forces say they later mobilised troops to the area, cordoning off forested sectors and initiating search-and-rescue operations; details remain scant and no official toll of abductees has been released.
These attacks underscore the fluidity and brutal nature of the “bandit” networks terrorising north-western Nigeria. The inclusion of a baby among the abductees amplifies the vulnerability of rural communities and the porous nature of what should be protected environments.
For many residents of Kajuru and Kauru LGAs, this incident will deepen fear and erode trust in both local security apparatus and state interventions. Economically, the timing — targeting farmers returning from fields — threatens agricultural productivity as labourers become fearful of venturing out. The humanitarian cost is high: victims may be subjected to ransom demands, forced recruitment, or worse.