.
.
.
247ureports
KADUNA, September 7, 2026 — Suspected bandits killed at least five people in two separate attacks in Kaduna State over the weekend, including the deputy commander of the Kaduna State Vigilance Service (KADVS) and two other vigilantes, while two residents were killed and two more abducted in a second attack hours later.
The first attack struck Zuntu, Kubau Local Government Area, on Sunday night, when suspected bandits attacked KADVS personnel operating in the Kubau axis. The deputy commander was killed alongside two of his men. “The KADVS deputy commander in Zuntu town, Kubau axis, Kaduna State, has fallen. The vigilantes commander was killed by bandits along with two of his men last night,” an OSINT source monitoring regional security developments, identified only as Usman, said in a post cited by Sahara Reporters.
A second attack hit Agunu community, Agunu Ward, Kachia Local Government Area, in the early hours of Monday. Gunmen stormed the community, shooting two people dead and abducting two others. “We woke to the shocking killing of two of our people and the abduction of two others. These are unarmed Nigerians. We appeal to the Federal and State Governments as well as security agents to come to the rescue of our people in Kachia and Kajuru Local Government Areas,” a community source said, according to The Sun.
A Unit Under Pressure
A credible KADVS source told The Sun that personnel in the Zuntu axis had recently intensified surveillance and checkpoint operations in the area, including intercepting a suspected criminal transporting Indian hemp and ammunition at a major checkpoint. The unit had notched recent successes: in June 2026, KADVS personnel reportedly intercepted and arrested suspected bandits along the Ikara-Zuntu route, and separately arrested eight suspected armed bandits during a midnight surveillance operation in the area.
Whether Sunday’s attack was retaliatory is not confirmed, but the timing — following a string of KADVS interceptions in the same corridor — has fueled concern among residents that the vigilante unit was deliberately targeted.
Casualty Figures Vary Slightly Across Reports
Most detailed reporting on the Zuntu attack, including from Sahara Reporters and The Sun, places the toll at the deputy commander plus two vigilantes — three deaths in that incident alone. A separate report circulating from a local social media commentator put the figure at three vigilante officers killed without specifying rank, and explicitly flagged its own casualty figures as unverified. 247ureports is treating the deputy-commander-plus-two-vigilantes account as the better-sourced version, consistent with multiple independent outlets.
Part of a Recurring Pattern
Kubau LGA, where Zuntu is located, has been a recurring flashpoint for attacks on Kaduna’s vigilante network. In July 2025, bandits reportedly killed the KADVS Commandant for Kubau LGA near Haskiya, a community bordering the Falgore Forest — a known haven for armed groups — in an attack that followed a similar killing of another local commander the previous year. The Kaduna State Vigilance Service, formed in 2021 with more than 1,000 trained members, has repeatedly borne the brunt of frontline confrontations with bandit groups operating across Kubau, Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Kachia, and Kajuru LGAs.
No official statement from the Kaduna State Police Command or the state government had been issued on either Sunday’s or Monday’s attacks as of this report.
