- Heavily armed assailants have launched coordinated raids across adjacent villages in the Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State, disrupting the peace with serial kidnappings and a fatal shooting.
- Family sources revealed that the criminal syndicate initiated their campaign by abducting a community pharmacy owner, subsequently slapping the family with an exorbitant ₦50 million ransom demand.
- Former state legislator Maryam Bagel has made an urgent public appeal to the government, warning that the localized raids are turning violent, with a relative’s husband shot dead in front of his wife and kids.
A fresh wave of violent insecurity has hit the Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State, resulting in the brutal killing of one local resident and the forced abduction of four others in separate armed raids carried out within a two-week window.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the sudden spike in synchronized village invasions has triggered panic among rural communities, forcing prominent regional leaders to call for immediate, high-powered interventions from state security formations before the area collapses into a hub for bandit operations.
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The urgent security alarm was raised publicly on Wednesday by Hon. Maryam Bagel, a former member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly and a grassroots parliamentary aspirant.
In a detailed brief detailing the harrowing events, the former lawmaker revealed that the armed syndicates intentionally mapped out and executed separate strategic raids targeting vulnerable households within both Kagadama and Bagel villages.
According to the former legislator, the targeted campaign kicked off in Kagadama village, where a prominent local merchant who owns and runs a community pharmacy was violently taken from his home.
Shortly after his forced disappearance, the armed kidnappers established contact with the terrified family, placing an astronomical ₦50 million ransom demand on his freedom.
Bagel openly questioned the psychological state of the criminals, wondering how an ordinary rural pharmacist operating a village-level shop could possibly generate or access such an immense amount of liquid cash.
The security situation turned tragic less than a week later when the same gang returned to strike Bagel village.
The assailants specifically targeted the home of a local resident identified simply as Shahibi, an individual who had previously survived a traumatic kidnapping ordeal just a year ago.
According to the lawmaker’s account, the gunmen showed zero mercy during the encounter, pumping multiple bullets directly into Shahibi’s chest and stomach, executing him on the spot in the presence of his young children and his wife, who is a direct cousin to the former lawmaker.
The brazen impunity of the gang reached a peak on Tuesday when the armed men launched a brazen return raid on Kagadama village.
Their primary target, another local shop owner, managed to escape into the nearby bushes under a heavy hail of gunshots fired by the attackers.
Frustrated by the escape of their primary target, the armed men systematically rounded up three alternative victims within the immediate vicinity, including a vulnerable 10-year-old boy who was assisting at the shop, a sick young man who had just returned home from a medical admission at the hospital, and an additional community resident.
Bagel made an emotional plea to the executive arm of government and the top hierarchy of the armed forces to flood the Dass axis with anti-kidnapping squads.
She warned that if immediate defensive measures are not implemented, the entire local government area risks being overrun by organized criminal cartels, undoing years of hard-earned peace and stability achieved across Bauchi State.
When contacted to provide a formal update on the operational situation, the Bauchi State Police Command, speaking through its Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Superintendent Nafiu Habib, confirmed the tragic attacks.
The police spokesperson assured the public that dedicated tactical and intelligence-led search teams have already been deployed to the dense forest areas to rescue the captives unhurt, vowing that the state command remains fully committed to tracking down the perpetrators and sustaining the internal security of the state.
