Gunmen kidnap woman, teenage son in Kaduna

A woman and her 14-year-old son were on Tuesday abducted by gunmen at their residence in Juji area of Sabon Tasha, Chikun local government area of Kaduna state.

The incident was said to have occurred in the early hours of Tuesday when the bandits invaded the community, shooting sporadically.

The woman’s son reportedly protested the abduction of his mother, insisting that he must accompany her.

A resident of the area said the kidnappers scaled the fence into the residence of their victims.

He said after scaling the fence, the gunmen smashed one of the windows and used a digger to break the burglaries in an operation that lasted for about 35 minutes.

“The kidnappers stormed Juji around after midnight and headed to the residence of their victims,” the witness said.

“When they got into the compound by scaling the fence and they started knocking at the door and ordered the victims to open the door.

“But when nobody responded, they smashed one of the windows in an attempt to enter the room.

“The burglaries on the window was too strong, so they used digger to break them to enter the room.

“They took the woman and as they were going with her, her eldest son who is 14 years old, protested and insisted that he must follow his mother and they left with them.

“As I am speaking with you now, the kidnappers have not said anything and we are very worried since the incident took place over 24 hours ago”.

He also said the incident was reported at the Sabon Tasha divisional police station and that the police visited the scene of the incident.

He decried the spate of abduction in the area, saying another member of the community was kidnapped by gunmen the previous Thursday.

“We are living in fear and we are calling on the government to protect us. We are also trying to come together as a community to see how we can protect ourselves from these criminals,” he said.

“But government needs to live up to its responsibility of protecting lives and property of citizens.”