A 46-year-old mother of six has shared the harrowing details of her family's midnight escape from bandits in Kano State, revealing how they were forced to abandon their ancestral home and livelihood with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Midnight Terror in Shanono
Hajara Ibrahim, a resident of Shanono Local Government Area, described how her peaceful community was transformed into a zone of fear by relentless attacks. The situation reached a breaking point when bandits began kidnapping neighbours, including fathers, mothers, and children, directly from their homes at gunpoint.
"We slept fully dressed, but our hearts pounded at every sound," Hajara recounted. "When they began kidnapping our neighbours... we knew we could be next." She emphasized that the decision to flee was not a choice but a desperate necessity for survival. "We ran not because we wanted to, but because we had to pick between our home and our lives. The fear was complete," she explained.
Livelihoods Lost and Trauma Endured
In their frantic escape, Hajara's family was forced to leave behind everything, including her small groundnut oil business. Her grinding machine, sacks of raw groundnuts, and bottles of finished oil remain locked inside their abandoned house.
Although now in a safer location with relatives, the psychological scars run deep. Hajara revealed that the mere sound of motorcycles—a common mode of transport for the attackers—sends her into a panic, a lasting symptom of the trauma endured.
Her story is not isolated. Findings indicate a renewed and alarming wave of attacks in several frontline local government areas of Kano state, including Shanono and Tsanyawa. Just last week, coordinated assaults on these communities resulted in multiple abductions, heightening fear and triggering further displacements of terrified families.
Government Launches Security Response
In response to the escalating crisis, the Kano State government has announced a major security operation. Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf disclosed plans on Tuesday, December 3, while assessing the readiness of Joint Task Force personnel at their three bases in the affected Tsanyawa and Shanono LGAs.
According to a statement from the Governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the state plans to acquire drones and boost logistics to strengthen surveillance and rapid-response operations in border communities vulnerable to bandit incursions. This operation is being coordinated with federal security agencies.
The severity of the threat was underscored by a related incident in Unguwar Tsamiya, Shanono LGA, where armed bandits stormed the community in a late-night raid. Witnesses reported that attackers on motorcycles set houses ablaze, killed residents, and abducted 11 people after looting valuables. Security forces have launched a coordinated pursuit and deployed reinforcements to the area.
As the state mobilizes its security apparatus, families like Hajara's grapple with the loss of their homes, livelihoods, and sense of safety, becoming internal refugees in their own region.
