Bandits strike again along Abuja-Kaduna expressway, abduct editor

Suspected bandits have abducted Sani Ahmed, a journalist and editor with the widely read Rariya Hausa online newspaper, while he was travelling from Abuja to Kaduna State.

According to Sahara Reporters, Ahmed set out on Thursday evening to attend an event in Kaduna. Comrade Yahaya Abdullahi of the Take-It-Back Movement said the editor departed Abuja around 8 p.m., but by 10 p.m. sent an alarming message indicating he had been kidnapped.

“We were together on Sunday during a gathering, and he mentioned that he would be travelling to Kaduna for a programme. He left Abuja yesterday’s evening going Kaduna for a programme, unfortunately he only sent a message that he was being kidnapped. Since that time till now we didn’t hear from him anymore,” Abdullahi told the outlet on Friday.

Ahmed’s whereabouts remain unknown, and there has been no further contact since the distress message.

The abduction is the latest in a string of violent incidents on the Abuja–Kaduna highway, long regarded as one of Nigeria’s most dangerous routes.

In recent days, bandits have carried out multiple attacks in Kaduna State, killing at least five people and seizing two others despite Governor Uba Sani’s much-publicized peace initiative.

Muhammadu Sani, a resident of Giwa town, confirmed his relatives were among those slain when gunmen invaded Nasarawan Fatika in Giwa Local Government Area early Monday. “They killed three men: Alhaji Sagir, Mallam Hassan, and Muhammad,” he said, noting that the victims, who supported large families, left dozens of dependents facing hardship.

On Sunday afternoon, another attack claimed the life of Badamasi Sani, who was shot dead on his farm in Galadimawa village, Giwa LGA. Witnesses reported heavy gunfire, and several of Sani’s cattle were later found wounded.

The violence continued in the Keke area of Millennium City, Chikun LGA, where bandits killed Malam Ibrahim Danjuma and abducted his son and a relative. Danjuma’s wife sustained injuries and is currently receiving medical treatment.

These repeated assaults have fueled growing doubts about the effectiveness of the Kaduna Peace Model, which Governor Sani has championed as a strategy to end insecurity in the region.