Gunmen suspected to be bandits have launched separate attacks on communities in Kaduna and Niger States, killing one person, injuring another and abducting at least 47 people, mostly women, in fresh incidents that have heightened security concerns in the two states.

In Kaduna State, the attackers invaded Iburu Hanya community in Kajuru Local Government at about 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 27, killing a young man identified as Paul Atte and injuring another.

Two women and their children were also abducted during the attack but were later released by the gunmen, according to a credible source in the community.

In neighbouring Niger State, no fewer than 47 residents of Rimi village, Kasuwan Garba district in Mariga Local Government Area, were abducted from a farm on Saturday morning while harvesting groundnuts.

Sources in the area said the victims were predominantly women, although some men were also among those abducted.

A political aide to a senior office holder from the area, who said he was not authorised to officially confirm the incident, told The Sun that the attack had thrown the community into distress.

“This latest incident happened on Saturday morning when they were on their farm harvesting groundnuts. The entire community is devastated by this development,” he said.

Another source close to the community confirmed that women constituted the majority of the abductees.

According to the source, the gunmen had earlier been sighted moving through Mangoro and Wamba communities before the abduction and were believed to have emerged from the Dogon Dawa axis of the local government area.

The source said the attackers subsequently moved with their captives into Bariki Forest, also known as Ma’undu, where they were believed to be holding them.

As of yesterday, relatives of the victims had neither established direct contact with them nor received any definite communication from the abductors.

The source, however, expressed the belief that the victims were being held inside Ma’undu Forest, which he described as a known hideout used by bandits before opening ransom negotiations.

“Usually, when they abduct people, they will not contact their families until after maybe three or four days. That is how they operate.

“They are in that Ma’undu forest because they don’t have any other place where they keep abducted victims. We have revealed this to the security people and they are aware,” he said.

Mariga Local Government Area has remained one of the areas worst hit by banditry and other criminal activities in Niger State.

Meanwhile, residents of Iburu Hanya in Kaduna were also counting their losses following Sunday night’s attack.

A source told The Sun Newspapers that two young men were shot during the invasion. While one survived with injuries, Atte was killed.

His death has reportedly deepened anguish in the community because his father, the late Atte Maikori, popularly known as Castro, was also killed in a separate kidnapping incident a few years ago.

Although the two women and their children seized during the latest attack were eventually released, residents said the incident had again raised fears over the safety of people in Iburu Hanya and surrounding communities.

The source said residents were hoping for increased security presence in the area to prevent further attacks and protect lives and property.

As of Monday morning, neither the Kaduna State Police Command nor the state Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs had issued a public statement on the Kajuru attack. (The Sun)