Kaduna Community Forced to Sell Food Reserves as Bandits Refuse to Release Abducted Villagers Despite N40m Ransom
In a heartbreaking development that highlights the deepening security crisis in northern Nigeria, bandits have refused to release thirteen abducted residents of Gidan Waya community in Kaduna State despite the payment of a substantial N40 million ransom. This cruel betrayal has plunged the entire community into severe hunger and despair, as they were forced to sell their primary food reserves to raise the demanded funds.
Deadly Night Raid Leaves Community Traumatized
The tragic sequence of events began on November 11, 2025, when armed bandits launched a coordinated night attack on the peaceful Gidan Waya settlement in Lere Local Government Area. According to Mallam Rabo Sambo, Chairman of the Gidan Waya Elders Forum, the assault occurred between 11 p.m. and midnight, with gunshots ringing through the community and creating widespread panic among residents.
"We heard gunshots, and before we knew what was happening, the bandits had surrounded our settlement," Sambo recounted during a press conference in Kaduna on Monday, January 26, 2026. "Our community is a closed settlement, which made it easy for them to ambush us completely."
The attack resulted in devastating casualties:
- Four residents were killed during the violent incursion
- Five others sustained serious gunshot injuries and required immediate medical treatment
- Thirteen villagers—comprising five men and eight women—were forcibly taken to an unknown location
Sambo emphasized that this represented the first such attack experienced by the previously peaceful community, noting that the assailants wore masks throughout the operation, making identification impossible.
Community Sacrifices Food Security to Pay Ransom
In January 2026, the kidnappers finally made contact with the traumatized community, demanding a ransom of N40 million for the release of their abducted family members. Faced with this impossible demand, the community made the agonizing decision to sell their primary food reserves.
"To raise the ransom, we sold over 3,000 bags of maize," Sambo revealed, his voice heavy with emotion. "When the trailers came to load the maize, everyone in the community was crying. This maize constituted our main food reserve, meant to sustain our families for several months."
The community leader described the devastating consequences of this sacrifice: "After selling our food to pay the ransom, we are now going hungry. We can no longer properly feed our families. The situation has become desperate."
According to Sambo, the community immediately delivered the full ransom amount after raising it, hoping for the swift release of their loved ones. "As soon as we got the money together, it was taken straight to the kidnappers," he explained.
Bandits Break Promise, Community Appeals for Help
In a cruel twist that has compounded the community's suffering, weeks have passed since the ransom payment, yet none of the thirteen abducted villagers have been released. "It has been more than two months since they were taken," Sambo lamented. "Even today, as I speak to you, none of them has returned to us. The bandits have broken their promise completely."
The community elders decided to go public with their ordeal because they remain uncertain whether government authorities have been fully informed about their crisis. "We don't know if His Excellency, Governor Uba Sani, is aware of what happened to us," Sambo stated. "That is precisely why we are appealing through the media for urgent intervention."
While acknowledging the efforts of the Divisional Police Officer in Lere, who has visited the community multiple times, Sambo made a passionate appeal to both state and federal governments for immediate action.
"Our people are still in captivity, and those at home are suffering tremendously," he emphasized. "Everybody has shed tears over this situation. We are living in constant fear, facing severe hunger, and dealing with complete uncertainty about our future. We need urgent help to secure the release of our family members and to receive food assistance for our starving community."
The Gidan Waya community's plight represents a disturbing pattern in Nigeria's ongoing security challenges, where vulnerable communities face impossible choices between financial ruin and the safety of their loved ones, often with devastating outcomes on multiple fronts.
