‘We’ll spare you, kill your children’: Kaduna community recounts midnight horror

The Naridon community in Kaduna State is reeling from a horrific midnight attack that claimed the lives of at least 30 people and left homes destroyed. The assault shattered the peace of the quiet farming settlement, transforming a night of expected routine into a scene of unimaginable devastation by sunrise.

Residents described how heavily armed assailants stormed the village around 11:55 p.m. on Sunday, opening fire indiscriminately on sleeping inhabitants. Many fled into the surrounding bushes, while others perished in the attack. Within minutes, flames engulfed homes, food stores, and businesses. When the attackers retreated into the darkness, dozens of villagers lay dead, and the community was left in ruins.

Survivors emerged to find their homes reduced to ashes, with burnt belongings scattered across compounds. The silence of the morning was broken by the cries of grief as women wailed and men, who should have been preparing their farms, instead dug graves for their loved ones. Children wandered through the wreckage, searching for any salvageable items.

The tragedy struck one family with particular cruelty. Five siblings were killed during the attack, leaving a critically injured child as the sole surviving witness to their family's near-annihilation. This lone survivor now represents the only living link to a family that had gone to bed expecting an ordinary Monday. The community leader's question, "How do you console parents who have lost almost all their children in one night?" hangs heavily over Naridon, a community now emblematic of the persistent violence plaguing Southern Kaduna.

“

It is difficult to explain this kind of pain. How do you console parents who have lost almost all their children in one night?