Tuesday, January 27, 2026 - Residents of Gidan Waya community in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State have accused bandits of refusing to release 13 abducted villagers despite the payment of a N40m ransom, forcing the community into hunger and despair.
The Chairman of the Gidan Waya Elders Forum, Mallam Rabo
Sambo, disclosed this on Monday while addressing journalists at a press
conference in Kaduna.
Sambo said the villagers were abducted during a deadly night
raid on November 11, 2025, when armed men stormed the community between 11 p.m.
and midnight, firing gunshots and throwing residents into panic.
“We heard gunshots, and before we knew what was happening,
the bandits had surrounded the settlement,” Sambo said. “Our community is a
closed settlement, so they easily ambushed us.”
He said four residents were killed during the attack, while
five others sustained gunshot injuries and were rushed to medical facilities
for treatment.
According to him, 13 villagers—five men and eight women—were
taken away by the assailants to an unknown location.
“This is the first time we are experiencing such an attack.
We have always lived in peace here.
There has never been any crisis among us,” he said.
Sambo noted that the attackers wore masks throughout the
operation, making it impossible to identify them.
He disclosed that the kidnappers later contacted the
community in January 2026, demanding a ransom of ₦40m
for the release of the abducted villagers.
“To raise the ransom, we sold over 3,000 bags of maize. When
the trailers came to load the maize, everyone in the community was crying,”
Sambo said.
He explained that the maize sold constituted the community’s
main food reserve, meant to sustain families for several months.
“After selling our food to pay ransom, we are now going
hungry. We can no longer feed our families,” he added.
Sambo said the ransom was delivered immediately after it was
raised, with the hope that the abductees would be released without delay.
“As soon as we got the money, it was taken straight to the
kidnappers,” he said.
However, he lamented that weeks after the payment, none of
the abducted villagers had been released.
“It has been more than two months since they were taken.
Even today, as I speak to you, none of them has returned,” he said.
He explained that the elders decided to go public because
they were unsure whether the Kaduna State Government or the Lere Local
Government Council had been fully briefed on the incident.
“We don’t know if His Excellency, Governor Uba Sani, is
aware of what happened to us. That is why we are appealing through the media,”
Sambo said.
While acknowledging the efforts of the Divisional Police
Officer in Lere, who he said had visited the community several times, Sambo
appealed to the state and federal governments for urgent intervention to secure
the release of the abductees and provide food assistance.
“Our people are still in captivity, and those at home are
suffering. Everybody shed tears. We are living in fear, hunger and
uncertainty,” he said.
Sambo’s revelation comes as over 160 worshippers recently
abducted in a Kaduna church.
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