A 35-year-old road construction worker has been abducted by gunmen in Charanchi Local Government Area of Katsina State, throwing the area into fear and prompting a swift response from security forces.
The victim, identified as Kabiru Bature, a driver with Stantech Road Construction Company, was reportedly kidnapped around 7:14 p.m. on Thursday along the Kunduru–Kadanya feeder road.
According to local sources, the gunmen laid an ambush and attacked while the road work was ongoing in the area. Bature was taken away at gunpoint, while other workers managed to flee the scene.
Security agencies were alerted immediately, and a search-and-rescue operation began the same evening. Armed personnel, including troops and police, were mobilised to the area to block all possible escape routes and pursue the attackers, who are believed to have escaped into a nearby forest.
“Troops have been deployed to comb the forest and track the kidnappers,” a security source said. “The operation is ongoing, and we are hopeful that the victim will be rescued safely.”
As of the time of this report, there has been no official statement from the Katsina State Police Command, but efforts are ongoing to ensure the safe release of the kidnapped worker and to apprehend those behind the attack.
Local residents say the area, though relatively calm in recent weeks, has witnessed pockets of insecurity in the past, especially from bandit groups operating in the forest areas that border several communities.
“We’ve seen a bit of peace lately, but this incident has reminded us that the threat is not over,” one resident of Charanchi said.
Katsina State, located in the Northwest region of Nigeria, has been one of the hardest-hit states in recent years by banditry, kidnapping, and rural violence. Several local government areas in the state have faced repeated attacks from armed gangs, many of whom operate from thick forests and poorly policed areas.
Construction workers, farmers, commuters, and even schoolchildren have often been targets of these criminals, who kidnap for ransom or to exert control over rural communities.
In response, both the federal and state governments have increased military presence in affected regions. Operations involving the Nigerian Army, Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and local vigilantes have been intensified, with varying degrees of success.
The abduction of Kabiru Bature adds to the growing list of kidnap cases in the region, and once again highlights the insecurity that continues to affect efforts to develop infrastructure and improve rural access across northern Nigeria.
