Abubakar—nobody could tell whether it was his real name—came to Askolaye in Kaduna South LGA as a gentleman.
He came with a small fortune too: a wife, two step-kids, and a cash stash enough to rent a three-bedroom apartment.
To those he tried to befriend, he came from Kwara state.
But to the security agencies battling insecurity in southern Kaduna and other communities in Kaduna, Abubakar was more.
Not many knew. Not even those as close as his skin.
In March, bandits kidnapped scores of students in Afaka, held them for 55 days, and collected N15 million in ransom.
One of the kidnappers had a history—of not just snatching people, but also terminating lives.
In a crime of intimacy, he killed two men—a father and his son-in-law in the course of his banditry. The widow had two sons. While she had no idea of the killer of the two important men in her life, she accepted the calamity as an act of God.
In any case, she moved on with her life, and found love again.
To probably begin a new life, she moved in to Kaduna South LGA with the new man, now a caring husband and loving step-dad. He already told the community leaders he wanted to enroll the kids in an Islamic school.
Then the IGP Intelligence Response Team came, after weeks of chasing a particular new settler.
According to a report by the Daily Trust, Abubakar was among the Afaka kidnappers who bolted after making a fortune.
He knew his late father-in-law. He knew his wife’s late husband too. He actually eliminated both of them, the newspaper reported.
Why? Nobody could tell for now.
The community members told the police what they knew about the couple.
While the police dug out more information about him, the couple remained in detention.