An attack by kidnappers on Awon, a community in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State, left residents dead and injured, including a pregnant woman, on Wednesday.

EQ learnt that the kidnappers shot indiscriminately during their sudden, bloody attack, which saw them kidnap at least four people, including a three-year-old.

A source (name withheld) in the area told EQ that the kidnappers abducted three women from the house of a man who had been organising others to protect the community from external attacks.

The source also said the kidnappers went to the house of the community’s security coordinator to attack him but did not find him at home. According to the source, the man had gone on patrol with other able-bodied men from the village.

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“When they knocked on the security leader’s door, his two wives opened it, thinking their husband was back. This was how the kidnappers abducted them and their 20-year-old daughter. They also killed my cousin in the attack,” the source said.

She added that her cousin was patrolling with other men when he rushed to inform his wife that unfamiliar individuals were in the village.

As soon as the kidnappers saw him, they shot him. He died immediately.

“His elder brother got enraged and was ready to fight upon seeing what had happened to his brother, but the kidnappers shot his hand and his cheek. He now looks lifeless, and I don’t think he’ll make it,” she told EQ.

“They took my late cousin’s wife, the wife’s younger sister and another man’s wife. A pregnant woman was the recipient of a stray bullet that day. She was shot in the leg but her life was spared when they realised she was pregnant. A two-year-old child was also shot. Only the women and children suffered injuries in this manner.”

Although the kidnappers left with six women, according to the source, two of them managed to escape at the break of dawn. At the moment, five people are receiving treatment in a local hospital.

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One of the men whose wife was abducted told EQ that two bullets were removed from his daughter. He also said that a six-year-old still had a bullet lodged in her body, but her parents could not afford the medical bills to have it removed.

“My arm is also dislocated. We don’t have money. We have spent all we have at the hospital, and no government official has shown up,” he said.

“They try to attack us repeatedly. We report to the government and soldiers, but they take no action. Now that it has become unbearable, we want to leave this village. We have been protecting ourselves because we don’t know what the government is doing. These guys come, attack, and leave.”

EQ called Mansir Hassan, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), for comments on the matter. He said he would call EQ back but had yet to do so at press time.
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