Tinubu Orders Manhunt After Kaduna Village Massacre

Breaking News, Crime, Kaduna State, National Security

Tinubu Orders Manhunt After Kaduna Village Massacre

Kaduna is once again in mourning after armed attackers descended on Naridon Village in Kauru Local Government Area, leaving about 30 people dead and homes in ashes. Tinubu has ordered a full security crackdown, but the deeper question is why rural communities remain so exposed.

Atlantic Post

July 28, 2026

3–4 minutes

Bayo Onanuga, Breaking News, Kaduna attack, Kauru LGA, Naridon Village, Southern Kaduna insecurity, Tinubu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has condemned the deadly attack on Naridon Village in Kamaru Ward, Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, where about 30 residents were killed, including women and children, in what the Presidency described as a “barbaric and cowardly attack”.

The State House said the assault, which occurred in the early hours of Monday, also led to the burning of homes, deepening fears in a part of Kaduna State that has endured repeated violence in recent years.

In a strongly worded statement issued through his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President described the killings as “an unprovoked act of terror against defenceless people”.

He also stressed that anyone seeking to destabilise the fragile peace in Kaduna would not escape justice.

The Presidency said Tinubu has directed the Armed Forces, the police and relevant intelligence agencies to intensify operations in the affected areas in order to track down the perpetrators and restore normalcy.

Tinubu’s response is the latest official attempt to reassure traumatised communities that the federal government is taking the security crisis seriously.

He extended condolences to the bereaved families, Governor Uba Sani, the Kaduna State Government and the people of the state, while also urging residents to support security agencies with “actionable intelligence” that could help prevent further attacks.

Those are familiar words in a country where intelligence gaps, delayed response and weak rural protection have too often turned villages into easy targets.

But the figures and accounts emerging from the ground show why this attack is already stirring anger well beyond Kaduna. The Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union, SOKAPU, said over 30 people, including women and children, were killed in the attack and warned that residents of Kajuru, Chikun, Kauru and Zangon Kataf local government areas continue to live in constant fear.

The group said many families have been displaced from their ancestral homes as armed criminal groups move with growing audacity across rural communities.

Amnesty International added a more harrowing layer to the story. The rights group said people who tried to flee the attackers were “pursued into the bush and slaughtered”, while also noting that the exact number of those killed and missing was still being ascertained.

Amnesty said the community was still discovering dead bodies in homes and farmlands, and accused the authorities of failing to protect the people and bring attackers to justice.

The chronology of the attack also matters. The State House said the killings happened in the early hours of Monday, while Amnesty International said the assault occurred on Sunday night.

That discrepancy does not change the central horror, but it does underline the need for a fuller official briefing on the timeline, the response mounted by security agencies and whether any distress calls were received before the bloodshed escalated.

What is already clear is that Naridon Village has become another grim symbol of a wider security failure in rural Nigeria. Premium Times reported that no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, even as the state has witnessed many similar assaults by armed groups in recent years.

In practical terms, that leaves the government facing the hard questions: why are these communities still so vulnerable, what intelligence was available before the attack, and how quickly did the state actually respond once the violence began?

For Kaduna, this is not just another condolence statement. It is a test of whether federal promises can translate into rapid, visible protection for embattled villages that have grown used to mourning their dead, rebuilding their homes and living under the shadow of the next raid.

Tinubu’s vow to “neutralise criminal networks” will now be measured not by rhetoric, but by arrests, prosecutions and whether the killers of Naridon Village are truly hunted down.