Residents block Kaduna-Abuja highway, protest incessant abductions

Residents angered by incessant abductions and bandit attacks have blocked the Gonin Gora end of the Abuja-Kaduna Highway in Chikun Local Government area of Kaduna State in protest. The protest follows the recent abduction of four people in Ungwan Auta in Gonin Gora by bandits on Saturday night. The protesters, in their numbers, barricaded the busy road with stones and wood, insisting that nobody will pass until the state Governor Nasir El-Rufai addresses them. They also prevented the convoy of a top military officer from passing through the road. Gonin Gora, like some other communities in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State have been experiencing incessant attacks and kidnappings by bandits, a situation which many of the residents described as worrisome. Kaduna State government on Friday said a total number of 323 people were killed by bandits in Kaduna State between January and March 2021. The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, who presented the figures during the state security report meeting explained that of the 323 people killed by bandits during the period under review, 292 were males and 20 were females. He added that a total of 949 people were kidnapped by bandits during the period, while Kaduna Central senatorial district accounted for 236 deaths within Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Igabi, and Kajuru Local Government Areas.