Many in Kaduna could not believe it when the story first filtered out that the premier military institution in the capital city, the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), was attacked by bandits.
But shortly after, the authorities of the institution confirmed the killing and abduction of its personnel on Tuesday.
The unknown gunmen, the military University said, killed two of its personnel and abducted one.
In a statement, the Public Relations Officer of the Academy, Major Bashir Muhd Jajira, said, “The security architecture of the Nigerian Defence Academy was compromised early this morning by unknown gunmen who gained access into the residential area within the Academy in Afaka. During the unfortunate incident, we lost two personnel and one was abducted.
“The Academy in collaboration with the 1Division Nigerian Army and Air Training Command as well as other security agencies in Kaduna state has since commenced pursuit of the unknown gunmen within the general area with a view to tracking them and rescue the abducted personnel.
“The NDA community and Cadets are safe in the Academy. We assure the general public that this unknown gunmen would soon be apprehended and the abducted personnel rescued.”
The dare-devilry in Kaduna comes a day after two members of the Katsina state House of Assembly broke down in tears narrating the ordeal of their constituents, as they debated the terrible security situation in the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari.
They claim 32 of the 34 Local Government Areas in the state are under the onslaught of bandits, including the state capital.
At the weekend, a male school worker was shot, and two female others were abducted in Kwantakomawa town. The shot staff died later.
Recall that the frustrated Governor of the state, Aminu Bello Masari, had days ago advised his people to buy arms to protect themselves, since security agencies were unable to provide protection.
And explaining his position, Masari said citizens could not fold their arms and allow the bandits to be killing them unnecessarily since there were no adequate security personnel to guard every community.
In an interview, relayed on Nagarta Radio, Kaduna, he disclosed that hardly a day passed without innocent people getting killed or abducted by bandits.
On past negotiations with bandits, he said, “It failed because we discovered that the bandits groups lack a central leader among them. There was no single leader to caution them because they are not fighting a particular ideological cause rather than to steal. They are groups of kidnappers and bandits. Most times in a group, you find not less than 10 members scattered in the forest.
“We also know that there are not enough security personnel. How many soldiers are there in Katsina and this is because this insecurity affected virtually all states of the federation. This compounded the problem and people cannot fold their hands and watch themselves being killed. If they abandon their villages,where will they go and when will the killings end?”
The Deputy Speaker of the Katsina Assembly, Alhaji Shehu Dalhatu-Tafoki had Monday presented a motion of urgent public importance over the level of insecurity in the state at the plenary.
Dalhatu-Tafoki, (APC Faskari) lamented the increase in insecurity despite the efforts of the governments security agencies.
“There is a serious need for the security outfits in the state to increase their outposts, especially the most insecurity affected areas.
“The outposts in those areas are not enough, they cannot overpower the bandits, despite the huge amounts of money being spent on them,” he said.
Alhaji Haruna Goma (APC, Dandume) broke down in tears as he narrated how no fewer than 11 persons were killed in two communities, while many were abducted.
He said if the help failed to come, more people in the communities, would be massacred.
The member representing Funtua constituency, Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed, (APC Funtua), who also shed tears, noted that for the past 40 days, bandits attacked Funtua communities daily, killing scores and kidnapping many.
The lawmakers unanimously resolved to meet with the National Assembly members from Katsina, the state executive, heads of security agencies in the state to find solutions to the problem.
