Alhaji Halliru Atiku Bakori
Kidnappers have stormed Bakori, again, around 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night!
They entered into the house of a prominent businessman, Alhaji Halliru Atiku, and kidnapped his son, Umar and his security guard.
Umar Halliru Atiku
Alhaji Halliru Atiku is a retired Director and Head, Department of Agriculture under the Katsina State Local Government Service Commission, and a one time member, Katsina State House of Assembly, who represented Bakori Local Government under the PDP.
Although Alhaji Halliru Atiku was in the house at the time of the incident, the kidnappers did not succeed in abducting him. They tried to force him to go with them but he told them he couldn't walk far as he had problems with his legs.
According to Alhaji Halliru Atiku, "They got angry and started beating me up with sticks and machetes. One of them cocked his gun and said he was going to shoot and kill me, but another one prevailed on him not to do so."
They then pushed him into the drainage in front of his house and left with his son and his security guard, when they realized that people had started shouting. Later, they pushed the security guard into a river and left him, making it easy for him to return home.
The last time they entered Bakori town was about a year ago, when they abducted several people and released them after payment of ransom. Two years ago was the first time ever they penetrated Bakori town and operated about five different times. In some of the raids, they kidnapped a retired journalist, Ahmed Abdulkadir, together with his sick daughter who was suffering from sickle cell anemia. It was also during one of the raids they abducted the wife of a member, Katsina State House of Assembly, late Dr. Ibrahim Aminu Ƙurami and two of his sons. Dr. Ƙurami, himself, had been kidnapped a year earlier. Another victim during the raids was the younger brother of the former District Head of Bakori, Makama Idris Sule Idris.
It was after those raids that the former Makama, Idris Sule Idris, organized all stakeholders in the local government area, who came together and contributed money and equipment and made the town secure from the bandits. Since then, yesterday's attack was the first in almost two years that they penetrated the town again.
The pattern of their modus operandi has emerged that they tend to intensify their attacks during rainy season when farm produce provide ample cover for them to make good their escape. This is the time security agents should take the fight to them rather than wait for them to attack before we defend ourselves.
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