Kaduna, Abuja — An unspecified number of persons have been reportedly abducted along the dreaded Birnin Gwari- Kaduna highway in Kaduna state by terrorists.
The development came exactly 65 days after passengers in the Abuja-Kaduna train were kidnapped.
In a statement in Kaduna, the Chairman of the Birnin Gwari Vanguard for Security and Good Governance, Ibrahim Nagwari, said eight vehicles were set ablaze by the terrorists during the attack.
Nagwari said the motorists were driving along the highway in a convoy with security escort when they were ambushed between Kuriga and Manini communities along the road.
The statement said in the last four days, terrorists had laid siege on motorists on the highway, abducting and killing people while others were wounded.
Nagwari lamented that it was unfortunate that the authorities were silent about the high rate of criminality along the highway, accusing the government of not showing concern about the deteriorating security on the road.
The statement said the security situation along the highway, “have reach a point of no return” and advised residents of residents of Birnin Gwari and other communities to stop traveling on the highway with immediate effect, till the security situation improves.
The statement said, “In the sad event today, eight vehicles were set ablaze by the terrorists, while unaccounted number of innocent motorists mostly women and children were taken to the bush by the terrorists for ransom.
“It is evidently, clear, that, unholy marriage of bandits and Ansaru (Boko Haram) has declared a total war on our people, yet the political will by the authorities to honour their oaths of office to protect lives and property of our citizens remains a mirage.
“While politicians are engaged on their mission to clinch power come 2023, none of the gladiators seeking for elections has any agenda of emancipating our people from the bondage of terrorists and miscreants.
“More so, none of these politicians deem it fit to visit Birnin-Gwari to either see delegates, but rather called delegates to Kaduna for consultations.
“We had always appreciate efforts of security personnel in their passion to curtailed the precarious insecurity bedeviling Birnin-Gwari general area.”
He added: “But our people have reach a point of no return, hence the need for the people of Birnin-Gwari and communities along the Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari highway to halt with immediate effect traveling on this notorious highway from tomorrow till security situation improves.
“This organisation hereby advise all our citizens to exercise maximum restraint and obey all rules of the land and seclude themselves in prayers for Allah intervention to deal with the terrorists and their collaborators within our communities.”
The statement prayed for the safe return of those mostly abducted.
Mohammed Jalige, spokesman of the Kaduna state police command did not respond to telephone calls when contacted.
Meanwhile, a Member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bamidele Salam (PDP, Osun) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to as a matter of urgency do all within their powers to ensure that those kidnapped two months ago in the Abuja-Kaduna train by terrorists were freed, as well as many others languishing in captivity.
Salam who represents Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore/Ejigbo constituency, while briefing journalists yesterday, lamented that the nation was becoming a jungle of sorts where criminals carve out turfs and operate freely without let or hindrance.
According to him, one of the key dimensions of the criminality was the unholy practice of kidnapping for ransom, which according reports had spawned a billion naira industry in the last seven years or more.
The lawmaker while describing kidnapping as a clear and present danger to the nation, said it was an embarrassment that wives, mothers, fathers, husbands get routinely kidnapped at will by bandits with many of them losing their lives even after the payment of ransom by their families or communities.
He appealed to his colleagues in the National Assembly and Nigerians at large to join him in urging Buhari to do the needful, adding that the government cannot continue along this route, as the kidnappings and deaths resulting therefrom are a stain on the national conscience.
Salam said, “The Kaduna train kidnap incident itself is a blight, not only the efficiency of our security system but a slap on the face of government whose responsibility it is to secure life and property.
“That such an attack could happen in broad daylight without our security operatives being capable of fending off the bandits, speaks to a defect in our security system. This defect reflects badly on government. No government can aspire to legitimacy and relevance if it fails the basic test of ensuring the safety and well-being of the people who elected it into office.
“We are at that point today when the Federal under the leader of President Muhammadu Buhari must rise to it full height and exercise leadership. It is trite to remark that the unfettered activities of bandits, terrorists and other criminals has created the impression in the minds of many Nigerians and even foreigners that the Nigerian state is tottering on the brink of collapse.
“President Buhari must rekindle that confidence and a good place to start would be to work assiduously to secure the release of the kidnapped Kaduna train victims. Reports and video footages emanating from their abductors are not encouraging.
“The lives of the hostages hang in the balance as the federal government seemingly at its wits end, prevaricates on such sensitive matter of national importance. I know that Mr. President is a very good Muslim and the Prophet Muhammed, Peace be Upon Him said leaders are shepherds and that the Almighty Allah will ask about each of the sheep in our care.”
He said further, “Our Vice President is a good Christian and so he has a lot to learn from how David handled a similar situation in 1st Samuel Chapter 30.
What needs to be done to secure the release of the Kaduna train victims must be done.
“Too many precious Nigerian lives have been lost to kidnappers and other malevolent individuals to permit these hapless victims of the train hijack to become the latest statistics of a nefarious enterprise that has sullied the national image.”