A 13-year-old girl, Hasana Bulus, has died barely 24 hours after regaining her freedom from bandits who held her captive for seven months in Kaduna State.
Hasana was abducted from her home in Awon village, Kachia Local Government Area, on April 20, 2026, alongside several other residents.
Her death was disclosed on Thursday by Reuben Buhari, a former aide to the late Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, in a social media post.
Buhari said the teenager was released from captivity on November 2 and taken to a hospital in Kachia for medical attention but died the following day.
He described her ordeal as tragic, saying she endured unimaginable suffering during the seven months she spent in the hands of her abductors.
“For seven long months, this little girl was held captive in the bush, enduring pain and horrors no 13-year-old should ever have to see, let alone live through,” he wrote.
He added: “She was finally freed on 2nd November and taken to a hospital in Kachia. On 3rd November, just a day after tasting freedom, she died.”
The tragic development came amid renewed attacks on communities in Kachia LGA, following the abduction of 18 people, mostly women and children, and the killing of two men in Akwando village.
Buhari said the attack occurred at about 12:30am on Wednesday, November 4, when gunmen invaded the community and abducted members of his extended family, including his cousins, their children and grandchildren.
According to him, those abducted included Usman Galadima, 55; Amina Ahmadu, 52; Alice Ahmadu, 45; Haske Ahmadu, 18; Magdalene Marcus, 35; Gloria Marcus, six months; Lovene Ishaya, 25; Happy Steven, 23; and Zillah Steven, one year.
Others were Afiniki Irimiya, 30, and her one-year-old daughter, Jeneth; Laraba Irimiya, 32; Sim Shagari, 30; Yangal Shagari, three; Musa Genesis, one; Miracle Genesis, 21; and two unidentified infants, aged four and five months.
He identified the two people killed during the attack as Irimiya Galadima, 41, and Benjamin Danlami, 32, adding that the husbands of Afiniki and Laraba Irimiya were among the deceased.
Buhari recalled that Akwando village had suffered a similar attack on April 26, 2026, when nine schoolchildren were abducted while travelling to school in Kachia. The children were eventually released after spending 36 days in captivity.
He said the community had also experienced several other attacks, resulting in deaths and repeated abductions.
The former governor’s aide further linked the latest incident to previous kidnappings in Awon village, disclosing that about five people abducted on April 5 regained their freedom after spending approximately six months in captivity.
However, he said some of the abductees died while in the kidnappers’ camp, while another young girl died a day after being taken to a hospital in Kachia following her release.
The repeated attacks have heightened concerns over the security situation in rural communities across Kachia Local Government Area, with women and children bearing a significant burden of the violence.
Efforts to obtain confirmation and comments from the Kaduna State Police Command were unsuccessful, as the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Hassan Mansur, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.
