The Bauchi State Police Command has promised to rescue a 25-year-old pregnant woman, Rahila Dau, who was kidnapped on Saturday, July 18, 2022, by yet-to-be-identified gunmen who stormed her home in Gibob, a Fulani settlement in Gizaki village of Lusa Ward, Bogoro Local Government Area of the state.
The police launched a manhunt for the kidnappers in order to arrest them and bring them to justice.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakil, stated this to journalists in the state on Friday.
He said that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Umar Sanda, had directed the Divisional Police Officer, Bogoro Division, to “do everything possible to rescue the victim alive.”
Speaking on the incident,Wakil, a Superintendent of Police, said that the case was reported at the Bogoro Divisional Headquarters.
He added that police personnel led by the DPO, visited the scene and recovered five empty shells of bullets fired by the kidnappers whose number he said could not be ascertained.
The Command’s Spokesman assured that “police personnel are on top of the situation in ensuring that the victim is rescued unhurt.
“The police have since launched an investigation into the unfortunate incident with a view to rescue Rahila Dau and apprehend the kidnappers.”
Our correspondent learnt from a source that the village is far away into the bush as it is situated at the border between Bauchi and Plateau states while accessing it is very difficult due to the terrain coupled with the fact that it is now the rainy season.
The source, who pleased anonymity, told our correspondent that, “the gunmen who were wielding AK-47 riffles, machetes and other dangerous weapons, invaded the settlement shooting sporadically within the family compound of a Fulani man, Alhaji Da’u Bello, aged about 70 years, and abducted his daughter, Rahila Da’u, aged about 25 years.”
According to the source, the kidnappers inflicted varying degrees of injuries on the victims and a fracture on the left leg of Alhaji Bello before they took away his daughter.
“Alhaji Bello Dau was taken to the hospital for treatment and was later referred to an orthopedic hospital in Kano State for special attention considering the level of the fracture which was a serious one and must be attended to by specialists.
“The abductors have been able to establish contact with members of the family and opened a line of negotiation by making a demand for ransom, leaving the family in total confusion considering her pregnancy while the father is critically ill at the hospital,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Bogoro LGA, Iliya Habila, has called on traditional and community leaders in the area to be more watchful and strengthen their local security networks to curtail influx of strangers into their domains to avoid future occurrences of kidnapping and other crimes.
“We have had three kidnapping incidents which have direct or indirect link with border communities, hence there’ is need for our people to to be more watchful, the chairman warns.
“Recent happenings show that we must tighten our local security network in our communities, be more vigilant whether in the farms, churches and mosques, markets, social gatherings and other gatherings.
“We have witnessed attacks on some families, especially the recent one on the borders of our local government around Gizaki area,” Habila stated.
