A group of bandits invaded Dahjonu community in Millennium City, located within the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna and abducted two journalists, Abdulgafar Alabelewe of The Nation newspaper and AbdulRaheem Abdu of Blueprint newspaper, along with their wives and children, Saturday night.
Abdulgafar Alabelewe currently serves as the chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Kaduna State Council.
The incident was confirmed by a family member of one of the victims, Taofeeq Olayemi. He recounted the terrifying event, stating that the bandits stormed the area at around 10:30 pm, firing shots indiscriminately before carrying out the abductions.
According to Olayemi, the bandits initially kidnapped Alabelewe, his wife, and their three children, along with a girl who was staying with them.
However, the assailants later released the girl and one of the children, leaving with Alabelewe, his wife, and two of their children.
“They shattered their doors and windows and removed their burglary proof after scaling the fence,” Olayemi said, describing the violent manner in which the bandits entered the house.
Olayemi, who is also a neighbor of the victims, provided further details of the incident. “They came around 10:30 pm on Saturday and started shooting indiscriminately. They first forced Aodu’s door open and kidnapped him and his wife, leaving their sick daughter behind. Then, they entered Abdulgafar’s house through the fence, went straight into his bedroom, and abducted him, his wife, and two of their kids.”
The bandits fled the scene just before local vigilantes arrived and began shooting into the air in an attempt to ward them off.
As of the time of filing this report, efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, for comments were unsuccessful, as his telephone line was not connecting.
