Bandits in the early hours of Wednesday attacked Dallatu and Kasuwar Da’a villages of Dutsen Abba ward in Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State and abducted five people.
Daily Trust reports that the attack came about 24 hours after gunmen blocked the Kaduna-Zaria highway and killed at least three people while dozens were abducted.
Our correspondents report that a few hours after the attack on Dallatu and Kasuwar Da’a villages, a combined team of security agents recovered the remains of a member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Alhaji Ridwanu Aminu Gadagau, who was said to have been killed after bandits blocked the Kaduna-Zaria highway on Monday.
The lawmaker’s elder brother, Sufyan Gadagau, confirmed that his brother, who was 43, was one of the victims of the road blockage on Monday and that his vehicle had been recovered by the police at the scene of the attack.
He said law enforcement agents had launched a manhunt for Ridwanu Gadagau who represented Giwa West in the state House of Assembly and other abducted travellers on Wednesday morning, but a few kilometres into the search, the lawmaker’s remains were found.
At the time of filing this report, the funeral prayer was conducted for the late lawmaker around 4pm in Zaria but the Kaduna State Police Command was yet to react to reports on his death and the two attacks on Dallatu and Kasuwar Da’a villages.
However, security sources who recovered the remains of the lawmaker told Daily Trust that they were surprised when they noticed the deceased had no bullet wound on his body.
The source, however, said there were signs of physical trauma to the body which was recovered around Saye area within Dutsen Abba ward which is about 10 kilometres from Zaria City.
Our correspondent also gathered from residents of Dallatu village that bandits had stormed the community around 1am on Wednesday and kidnapped two persons then proceeded to Kasuwar Da’a village where they abducted six others among them, three children.
The residents however said the three children were later released Wednesday morning leaving five people in captivity.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Yusuf Zailani, yesterday described the death of the lawmaker who was the chairman, House Committee on Local Government Affairs as devastating.
In a statement signed by his SA Media and Publicity, Dahiru Danfulani, the speaker said: “This is tragic and painful. We are in deep grief over this sad incident.”
Zailani also commiserated with families of others who were killed during the same attack and those who are still in captivity, stressing that he hoped they would be rescued by security operatives soon.