Gunmen suspected to be bandits attacked Angwan Rimi community in Kamaru Ward of Kajuru Local Government Area, Kaduna State, on the night of Sunday, August 24, 2025.
The attackers invaded the community and killed seven people, leaving eight others with varying degrees of injuries. The victims of the incident were mostly women and children from the Irigwe ethnic group, who have suffered repeated assaults in the area over the years.
Those killed in the attack were identified as Jacob Zakka, aged 12, Felicia Francis, aged 30, Magaret Mathias, aged 5, Veronica Paul, aged 25, Delight Paul, aged 1, Confidence Yakubu, aged 15, and Sati Markus, aged 9. The injured were named as Mathew Sunday, aged 14, Jethro Istafanus, aged 7, Jackson Istafanus, aged 5, Emmanuel Morris, aged 14, Agatha Sylvester, aged 9, Joy Markus, aged 9, Divine Paul, a 6-month-old infant, and Mary Ishaya, aged 12.
The national publicity secretary of the Irigwe Youth Movement, Joseph Church Yonkpa, condemned the killings and called on authorities to urgently intervene and provide protection for the people. “The leadership of Irigwe Youth Movement uses this medium to call on relevant authorities to intervene by making sure the lives of Irigwe people and our communities are well protected for them to freely showcase their potentials in enhancing their standards of living,” he said.
Security agencies have not yet issued an official response to the incident, and attempts to reach the Kaduna State Police Command spokesman, DSP Mansur Hassan, were unsuccessful as he did not answer calls. The silence has deepened concerns among residents who continue to live under the threat of violence.
The killings in Kajuru come against the backdrop of recurring insecurity across northwestern and central Nigeria, where rural communities have been frequently targeted by armed groups. In Southern Kaduna in particular, there has been a long history of violent clashes, bandit raids, and communal unrest that have left hundreds dead and displaced many families. The Irigwe people, spread across Plateau and Kaduna States, have often found themselves at the center of these attacks, with villages repeatedly raided, farms destroyed, and lives lost despite several peace accords and promises of increased security.
This latest assault has heightened fears in the region and renewed calls for decisive action by security agencies to protect vulnerable communities. Residents continue to demand stronger military and police presence in Kajuru and other flashpoints, stressing that without proactive measures, the cycle of killings and displacement will persist.
