Bandits kill two, abduct four women in Kaduna

10 fleeing ISWAP fighters, cleric surrender to Niger military

Bandits have reportedly killed a community leader, Ibrahim Abdullahi, and his nephew. They also abducted four women in Unguwar Mai Awo village of Igabi Local Council in Kaduna State.

Abdullahi, a member of the Fityanul Islam First Aid Group, Igabi chapter was killed alongside his nephew, yesterday, at his residence. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Muhammad Jalige, could not be reached on phone to confirm the development.

But a resident, Nasir Idris, said the bandits stormed the community about 3.30am, killed the community leader and his nephew and later moved to another location within the community and abducted four women, including a nursing mother.

He said the bandits shot sporadically to scare the villagers away, when they arrived the community, adding that two other residents were injured, but were taken to the hospital for medical attention.

“The bandits killed Ibrahim Abdullahi, who is a community leader and Chairman of Fityanul Islam First Aid group of the area, and his nephew, Zakari Yau. Four women, including a nursing mother, were also abducted by the bandits from the community,” he said.

MEANWHILE, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists that fled from Kayowa and Toumbun Gini in the Lake Chad region have surrendered to the Nigerien authorities at Tumour.

The 10 surrendered fighters included their cleric, after Boko Haram seized the ISWAP bases in December. A counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed yesterday, in Maiduguri: “The fleeing ISWAP terrorists and the cleric surrendered to the Nigerien authorities on January 10, 2023.”

According to him, the surrender was not unconnected with the fears of eventual elimination, following the continuous rivalry between the two terror groups. He added that the attacks on ISWAP bases by Boko Haram caused the death of scores of fighters in December.

Military sources in Maiduguri also confirmed that the sustained onslaught by Boko Haram led by Abu Umaimah on ISWAP strategic bases in four camps forced Abu Moussab al-Barnawi and other commanders to flee and surrender in Niger Republic.

“The continued rivalry between Boko Haram and ISWAP seems unending,” said the source, adding that several efforts by the terror groups in joining forces against the Nigerian military and the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) appears impossible. Makama explained that it is against this backdrop that ISWAP fighters were desperate to support mercenaries from Mali, Burkina Faso and Somalia.