The Kaduna State Commissioner for International Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, shared grim details of his experiences with bandits in a year-end reflection.

In a heart-wrenching account on Facebook, the journalist-turned-politician gave troubling details of insecurity propagated by bandits around Kaduna, a critical northwestern state, and the counteractions of security forces.

Kaduna is enduring years of violence, killings and kidnapping fuelled by ethno-religious sentiments.

Recalling different cases of kidnappings, killings, wanton destruction perpetrated by bandits in the state in the just concluded year, Mr Aruwan described 2021 as the year he fought so many battles.

Read full statement below:

A quick 2021 reflection…

For me, life was very turbulent and quite interesting in 2021. It began with some of 2020’s challenges spilling into the new year, but it got really distressing in March when students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanization were kidnapped. While we were struggling to keep up with that situation, I arrived Abuja one night in early April, and received a distress call from Kasarami village on the Kaduna-Abuja road, informing me of a bandit attack. It turned out to be at the Greenfield University. A staff member had been killed and over twenty students kidnapped.

That night was long and harrowing. By 6am the following day I arrived and headed right into the institution, going round and round, wandering into the thick forest with troops. Days later, I was in the company of a visiting Governor, and a strange call came in. I answered and the caller said three corpses had been found in the forests, and they seemed to be some of the Greenfield University students.

We hurried to the location, and it was indeed three of the students, with bullets pumped into their hearts. We took away the corpses in tears. After two days, another strange call came, and we picked up two more corpses.

All these events were happening side-by-side with the challenges we were attending to in Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Chikun, Zangon Kataf and Kauru and other cases in Zaria, Kachia, Kajuru, Jema’a and Sanga. They are very daunting, breaking one down one moment and raising one up again, with God on our side.

Another notable event was in July. One day at about half past midnight, I got a call of an attack at a school. We swung into action, and contacted security forces to move to the location. We lost two personnel there. We picked up their corpses at about 4am and deposited them at the military hospital. On our way back to the school at around 11am, I got a call that some people had been assembled to embarrass me. I was warned not to go, but I ignored the warnings and proceeded anyway.

On arrival, I passed through a narrow route to access the wall the bandits had breached to commit their crime, while I allowed our vehicles passed the main gate without me. They were all stopped and chased out. On entering the school, I was also insulted and jeered amidst wild jubilation. I kept my cool, as my main concern was the students in captivity. No one cared about the fact that we lost personnel; their lives do not matter that much to most of this bunch. After three weeks we lost two more personnel and over sixteen were injured in another fierce battle with the same bandits.

There were such heartbreaking calls, but some good moments as well, especially when ground troops and police neutralized bandits or when the Air Force pounded them in their lairs, and several other good breakthroughs. One call I won’t forget in a hurry, was when a local chief called to tell me that if I didn’t hear from him again, it would mean he was gone because bandits had surrounded his house. I called troops and police in the nearest locations to him; there was nothing we could do, but thankfully he escaped by some miracle.

Another emotional case was that of an eight year older boy who was hit by the same bullets that killed his father. I rushed him to hospital and pleaded that they help save his life. He seemed to be improving, and I was glad. On my way into a military facility though, I received a call that he didn’t pull through.

I had another bad case that caused me to weep profusely at Jaji. Two soldiers killed at a certain location while defending the locals were actually neighbors in the barracks. On getting to their blocks to condole their families, both their wives and children were in tears, and we joined them, along with their Commanding Officers.

In the outgoing year, 2021, just like in the previous years in public service, I fought several battles; the battle against bandits and criminals, and the one against those instigating violence with dangerous narratives and falsehoods. The battle of agents of emotional blackmail and demonization, the battles against trauma and depression, and the pains that comes with burden of leadership.

In the year that’s drawing to a close, I saw how people hallucinate and believe falsehoods they forced on themselves as their truth. We saw those who wear the toga of humanitarianism but in actual fact represent evil.

As tough as 2021 might have been, it has certainly been a year to count God’s blessings and favors. I was healthier despite the acute stress, persistent travels and movement to frontline areas; I never had a breakdown. Being healthy in this line of work is a big deal. It means everything. I also became more focused, and never weighed down by worries, fears and anxiety.

Finally, all things being equal, I have fifteen months left in public service. 2022 is my last full year in the Ministry, with five months in 2023. I am determined to work harder in 2022. I will not carry over the pains of 2021 into 2022. I am determined to do my best in everything and never look back.

In my view, God is ultimately in control of everything, the good and the bad. My mind is conditioned to accept both as part of the tapestry of life and destiny. I will never blame anyone. I will always take responsibility and do my best to navigate the situation. No outcome, favourable or otherwise, will change this.

See you in 2022.

SA