Chacho village in Wurno Local Government Area of Sokoto State was meant to be filled with music, laughter, and the promise of a new beginning. Instead, it became the stage of a nightmare that lasted 49 agonizing days.
Barely 24 hours before her wedding, a young bride-to-be and her bridesmaids were abducted by armed bandits who stormed her family home under the cover of night. What should have been a celebration of love turned into a harrowing ordeal that tested the resilience of an entire community.
A Village in Shock
“We were preparing for joy, not sorrow,” said one elderly villager, shaking his head as he recalled the night of the abduction. “The whole village was decorated, people had traveled from far to attend. Then suddenly, everything collapsed.”
The abducted women were later traced to the notorious Sububu forest, a sprawling hideout for criminal gangs that stretches across Sokoto, Zamfara, and into Niger Republic. For weeks, families lived in anguish, negotiating with kidnappers whose demands shifted constantly.
The Price of Freedom
Relatives revealed that the victims were released only after the families painfully raised a ransom of ₦10 million, three brand new motorcycles, and food supplies.
“We are villagers. We don’t have such money in our homes or banks,” a distraught family member explained. “We sold our belongings, livestock, and valuables. We begged well-meaning citizens before we could raise the money. It was like tearing our hearts out.”
Another relative added: “Every day we prayed, every day we hoped. The bandits kept changing their demands. It was seven weeks of torment.”
Relief Mixed With Grief
When the captives were finally freed, relief swept through Chacho—but it was relief laced with grief. The victims were immediately taken to a hospital for medical care, their fragile condition a stark reminder of the trauma endured.
“The joy of seeing them alive cannot erase the pain of what we lost,” said a neighbor. “This was supposed to be a wedding. Instead, it became a story of ransom and survival.”
A Cry for Help
Residents say the incident is not isolated but part of a larger tragedy unfolding across rural Nigeria.
“This is our daily reality,” another villager lamented. “Our lives and dreams are shattered by bandits. We cannot continue like this. The government must act.”
He called for urgent intervention: “Equip the security agencies with modern surveillance technology. Go after these criminals in their hideouts. Negotiations only embolden them. We need decisive action.”
Attempts to reach the Wurno Local Government Chairman, Hon. Aba Sadiq Isa Achida, were unsuccessful. Police spokesperson DSP Ahmed Rufai confirmed the command was still gathering details but promised updates.
For now, Chacho village is left to pick up the pieces—its wedding songs replaced by whispered prayers, its joy overshadowed by the heavy cost of insecurity.
As one grieving relative put it: “We wanted to celebrate a union. Instead, we fought for survival. Our wedding dreams were shattered.”
A devastated family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident plunged the entire community into shock, fear and helplessness, as unarmed villagers could do little in the face of heavily armed criminals.
According to the source, intelligence later revealed that the abducted bride and others were held in one of the bandits’ enclaves deep within the Sububu forest spanning parts of Isa and Sabon Birni local government areas.
The vast forest, which stretches into Zamfara State and the Niger Republic, has long been identified as a notorious hideout for criminal gangs terrorising communities across Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States.
Speaking after the victims’ release, a relative disclosed that they were immediately taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical care, citing security concerns and the fragile condition of the freed captives.
The relative explained that the prolonged captivity was due to the family’s inability to immediately meet the bandits’ ever changing ransom demands.
“We are villagers. We don’t have such money in our homes or banks,” the source lamented. “We sold our belongings, livestock and valuables, and begged well meaning citizens before we could raise the money.”
He added that negotiations dragged on for seven weeks, eventually costing the family ₦10 million cash, three motorcycles worth about ₦1.8 million each, and additional food supplies demanded by the abductors.
Another resident, who also pleaded anonymity, said the incident reflects the daily reality of many rural Nigerians whose lives and dreams are shattered by criminal violence.
He appealed to the Federal Government to urgently equip security agencies with modern surveillance technology to locate and dismantle bandits’ hideouts, stressing that communities can no longer bear the burden alone.
The resident further called for a decisive kinetic approach against banditry, arguing that repeated negotiations only embolden criminals and perpetuate a cycle of violence and ransom taking.
Efforts to obtain official comments from the Wurno Local Government Chairman, Hon. Aba Sadiq Isa Achida, were unsuccessful, while the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmed Rufai, said the command was yet to receive full details but promised to liaise with the divisional office for updates, as Nigerians continue to demand answers and lasting solutions to the nation’s worsening security crisis.