NEWS UPDATE
Gunmen on Sunday night stormed Rantan village in Bebeji Local Government Area of Kano State, killing two people and abducting three others in what residents described as a targeted attack.
The victims were identified as Alhaji Buba Garba, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman in Rantan Ward, and Sulaiman Aliko, a neighbour of the party chairman.
Witnesses said Aliko was shot twice, in the leg and chest, after rushing out to assist when the attackers struck around 11 pm.
Bashir Alhaji Adamu, the Chiroman Rantan and son of the village head, told Daily Trust that the assailants also attempted to abduct Alhaji Sa’adu, a local businessman, but failed.
“They beat him and injured him, but they abducted his two children. They also abducted the wife of the APC chairman they killed,” he said.
According to him, the attackers came on motorcycles, which they parked outside the town before sneaking in.
He said this was the second time gunmen had attempted abduction in the community. Security operatives later arrived but only after the attackers had fled.
The incident comes barely two days after yet-to-be-identified gunmen abducted Sarkin Noman Kano in Chiromawa, Garun Malam Local Government Area, which shares a border with Bebeji.
In that attack, three people were killed before the traditional ruler was taken away, though police later said they had rescued him after foiling the kidnapping attempt.
The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, confirmed the incident and said security agencies had already launched operations in the area.
“The Rantan issue happened last night and, as earlier reported, three people died, and some were in the hospital. We are still on the operation, and our anti‑kidnapping personnel are also there.
“You can testify that this morning, the area commander and the DPO were strategising to move to the area and other areas to fine-tune another strategy so we can stop this kind of menace coming in from the neighbouring states,” he told journalists in Kano.
Bakori assured residents that the police, in collaboration with other security agencies, were intensifying efforts to track down the attackers and prevent further incursions into Kano communities.