Residents of the Akurmi community in the Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State have raised the alarm over sustained killings and kidnappings by bandits.
The residents disclosed that no fewer than 59 persons have remained in captivity since October 2025.
The community said at least 12 residents were killed while dozens were abducted in a series of coordinated attacks that forced many villagers to abandon their homes and farmlands.
Similarly, the Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressives Union has warned of renewed security threats and massive destruction of farmlands in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of the state, cautioning that the fragile peace recorded in the area could be reversed.
Leaders of the Akurmi community raised the alarm on Tuesday at a press conference in Kaduna, describing the security situation as dire and life-threatening.
Speaking on behalf of the Akurmi Development Association, its President, Yakubu Maigamo, said persistent attacks had pushed the people to the brink and questioned the seeming neglect of the community by authorities.
“Are we still part of Nigeria, or have Akurmi lives become disposable?” Maigamo asked while addressing journalists.
He lamented that ancestral farmlands that once sustained the people had been turned into what he described as “graveyards and forests of fear” due to incessant bandit attacks.
According to him, gunmen now invade villages at will, killing men and abducting women and children without resistance or adequate security response.
Maigamo said the attacks were systematic and widespread, affecting several communities within Lere Local Government Area and neighbouring councils.
He cited an October 2025 attack on the Karku-Ningi community in the Kauru Local Government Area, where four persons were killed and nine others abducted.
The AKURDA president also listed Gidan-Waya, Jan-Tsauni and Mai-Yamma communities in Lere LGA, where another four residents were killed and 13 abducted in November 2025, adding that similar incidents occurred in Majagada, Gurza, Garun-Kurama and Biman-Kurama.
He disclosed that many of those abducted since October were still in captivity, noting that families had been forced to sell harvested grains meant to sustain them through the year to raise ransom payments.
While acknowledging efforts by the Federal and Kaduna State governments to tackle insecurity, Maigamo said the interventions were grossly insufficient and appealed to Governor Uba Sani to order the immediate and permanent deployment of security personnel to the affected communities.
“Our commitment to peace must not be mistaken for a willingness to perish in silence. Justice cannot wait, and safety cannot be delayed,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr Isah Muhammad, the Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressives Union lamented the killing of a former councillor of Gayam Ward, Auwal Magaji Kwaga, along the Birnin Gwari–Kwaga road.
“The killing of Malam Auwal has deeply shaken the Birnin Gwari community,” the union said, describing the incident as part of recurring cases of killings, robberies and theft across the area.
The group said a documentation exercise revealed that at least 173 farmers suffered severe farmland destruction during the 2025 farming season, with over 182 hectares of cultivated land destroyed, resulting in losses running into hundreds of millions of naira.
When contacted, the Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, said he would reach out to the affected communities and respond accordingly.
However, as of the time of filing this report, he had yet to do so.
This came after 80 worshippers who escaped abduction during a bandit attack on the Kurmin Wali community in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State returned to their homes.
About 177 worshippers were initially believed to have been abducted during the attack with 80 later confirmed to have escaped and sought safety in nearby communities.
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