Gunmen have kidnapped the Chairman of Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Nura Abdullahi, after a coordinated night assault on his official residence left four members of his security detail dead and plunged the community into mourning.
The attack unfolded in the early hours of Saturday when a large contingent of armed bandits invaded Bungudu town and moved directly toward the chairman’s residence in the Zango area, located less than 20 kilometers from the state capital, Gusau.
According to residents, the assailants met little initial resistance before engaging the chairman’s security guards, comprising police officers and local vigilantes, in a fierce exchange of gunfire.
An indigene of the town, Abdullahi Na Allah Said, told correspondents that the gunmen overwhelmed the guards despite their efforts to repel the attack, killing two policemen and two vigilantes in the process. He said the attackers then seized the chairman along with his wife and children before retreating toward the surrounding forest.
“They kidnapped him along with his wife and their children and moved to the forest,” Said said, adding that the security personnel simply did not have the firepower to match the assailants.
The Joint Task Force overseeing counter-banditry operations in the North-West, Operation FANSAN YAMMA, confirmed the broad outline of the attack in a statement issued Saturday by its media information officer, Lt. Col. Aliyu Danja.
According to the statement, troops responded swiftly after hearing gunfire and engaged the attackers directly, a move that forced the terrorists to abandon five members of the chairman’s family, including his mother, wife, two children, and a relative, all of whom were rescued alive. The attackers, however, escaped into the bush with the chairman still in their custody.
The Army’s account listed the fatalities as two policemen, one vigilante, and a civilian, while the chairman’s elder brother, Alhaji Bello Umar, sustained injuries in the raid. This casualty figure differs slightly from residents’ accounts, which put the vigilante death toll at two, underscoring the fluid and still-developing nature of reporting from the scene.
In the aftermath, the Theatre Command activated a multi-agency search-and-rescue operation, drawing in troops of Operation FANSAN YAMMA, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, and local vigilante groups. Security forces are now combing locations suspected of being linked to the attackers in a bid to secure the chairman’s release.
“The Theatre Command has deployed all available resources in the ongoing operation and remains in close coordination with participating security agencies,” the statement said, adding that every lawful and operational measure was being taken to ensure his safe recovery.
The command appealed to the public to remain calm, continue with normal activities, and channel any credible information through established security lines to support the rescue effort.
Saturday’s raid is the latest in a string of attacks to hit Bungudu LGA, an area that has repeatedly come under assault by bandit groups engaged in kidnapping-for-ransom operations and raids on security formations, despite sustained military deployment in the region.
Community members have renewed calls on the state and federal governments to bolster protection for Bungudu and other vulnerable communities across Zamfara, warning that the bandits’ access to sophisticated weaponry continues to outmatch local defenses.
As of this report, the fate of the chairman remains unknown.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Bandits stormed Bungudu LGA chairman Nura Abdullahi’s residence, killed four of his security detail, and abducted him along with family members. A swift military response led to the rescue of five family members, but the chairman himself remains in captivity as security forces continue search-and-rescue operations.
Despite ongoing military deployment in Zamfara, bandits retain the firepower and coordination to strike even well-guarded, high-profile targets, underscoring the persistent insecurity gripping the region and the urgent need for stronger protective measures for public officials and residents alike.
