Suspected bandits killed the Chief Imam of Kuda-Kuda village in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State, Liman Audu, during a pre-dawn attack on Thursday. Three others—Yahaya Hasanu, Zahara Mu'azu, and Ibrahim Dayyabu—were also killed, while Malam Shehu Farar Zaki, Yar Yamma, Khadija, and six other residents were abducted. The attack began at 12:58am, with gunmen storming homes, shooting indiscriminately, and rustling livestock over a two-hour period.
Residents described chaos as gunfire erupted from multiple directions, prompting families to flee toward the outskirts for safety. One survivor recounted how the attackers targeted the Chief Imam's residence first, killing him before confronting three young men who refused to follow them into the forest. The men were shot and killed on the spot. Three additional victims sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and were transferred to a hospital in Sokoto, though their survival was considered unlikely.
The attackers specifically abducted married women, continuing a pattern seen in previous raids on the village. This incident marks the 11th attack on Kuda-Kuda community in recent years, with residents expressing frustration over persistent insecurity and lack of government intervention. Despite repeated appeals for protection, no security forces responded during the assault. Attempts to reach Sokoto State Police Command spokesperson DSP Ahmad Rufai and Governor's Special Adviser on Security, Col. Ahmed Usman (Rtd), via calls, WhatsApp, and text messages were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
Eastern Sokoto State has remained vulnerable to recurring bandit activity, with communities like Kuda-Kuda bearing the brunt of violence that includes killings, abductions, and livestock theft.
The same officials who failed to respond to 10 prior attacks on Kuda-Kuda were unreachable again after the Chief Imam was murdered in his home. Eleven raids without consequence suggest the village is effectively abandoned by state security. When a community is attacked this routinely, each failure to act becomes a tacit endorsement of the violence. The abduction of married women and killing of clerics are not isolated crimes but direct outcomes of this sustained neglect.
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