In a coordinated operation, armed Bandits launched simultaneous attacks on villages in the Makarfi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The assailants fired sporadically into the air to deter any potential resistance. Meanwhile, in the neighboring Makarfi LGA, the Bandits struck Gazara village, where they abducted a well-known local politician, Zaharadeen Magaji. As of the time of publication, the Kaduna State government had not issued an official statement regarding the incidents. Community leaders have urged both state and federal governments to enhance security patrols in vulnerable rural areas.
12 Sept 2025 · Gazara, Makarfi, Kaduna
Deaths
0
Injured
0
Kidnapped
1
Total casualties
0
Perpetrators
Bandits
Response
No official response from Kaduna State government or security agencies as of press time. Community leaders appealed for intensified security patrols.
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Banditry-for-ransom economy, cattle rustling
Trajectory
The attack on Gazara — a village in Makarfi LGA — is particularly significant because Makarfi had previously experienced lower levels of organised Banditry compared to other LGAs like Birnin Gwari, Chikun, or Giwa. This suggests that Banditry is expanding geographically into previously less‑affected areas of Kaduna State. The pattern echoes the early‑stage expansion of Banditry from Zamfara into neighbouring states in the mid‑2010s.
Cycle notes
The coordinated, simultaneous attack on Makarfi LGA is a direct echo of the tactics used by Boko Haram during its expansion phase (2012–2014) , when the group would strike multiple towns in different local government areas on the same day to overwhelm security forces and create a sense of omnipresence. However, unlike Boko Haram’s ideologically motivated campaign, the current wave in Kaduna is purely profit‑driven, focused on kidnapping for ransom and cattle rustling. The targeting of a politician — Zaharadeen Magaji — also echoes the 1990s ethnic militias, which often abducted political figures to weaken rival factions or raise funds. Yet the current crisis lacks the ethnic or political ideology that characterised those earlier cycles.
Pattern
Banditry
Related — Kidnapping
Boko Haram militants, reportedly from the Abu Musab al-Barnawi faction, stormed Dapchi town in a convoy of vehicles. They initially abducted local boys to guide them to the school. After a brief exchange of gunfire, the insurgents entered the school premises, rounded up the girls, and loaded them into vehicles . The abduction occurred despite advance warnings from residents who had seen the militants approaching and called security forces hours before the attack—warnings that went unheeded .
Gunmen abducted a Catholic priest in Agaliga-Efabo, Olamaboro LGA, Kogi .
Gunmen abducted nine passengers at Ogbabo Junction, Ofu LGA, Kogi .