An overnight attack on Naridon village in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State has left at least 31 people dead, including eight children, according to local officials and witnesses. The assailants, described by residents as armed men numbering about 50, entered the community around midnight on 26 July, shot residents, and set fire to homes and shops. Survivors and the village head’s secretary, Dogon Rana, confirmed the toll and warned it could rise, as four critically injured people were receiving hospital treatment. Residents told the Foundation for Investigative Journalism that they called the Nigerian Army during the three-hour assault but received no timely response; police arrived only afterward.

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar branded the killings “heartbreaking and unacceptable” and a direct indictment of President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Through his spokesperson, Atiku argued that government officials had been “criss-crossing television studios” brandishing an unverified letter of commendation from the United States, while citizens were slaughtered nightly. He contrasted the US government’s recent $750,000 expenditure to evacuate a single citizen from a Pacific island with what he termed Nigerian authorities’ preoccupation with “international applause” rather than citizen safety. Simultaneously, Atiku issued a separate economic critique, pointing to an estimated N7.98 trillion windfall from crude sales above the 2026 budget benchmark, questioning why the federal government had borrowed N5 trillion domestically in the first half of the year—almost double the 2025 pace—if revenues were swelling.

The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) appealed directly to the state police commissioner, demanding the immediate deployment of mobile police and counter-terrorism units to vulnerable communities. Its president, Samuel Tabara Kato, said the Naridon attack was part of a worsening wave of killings and displacement that had rendered farming communities in Kauru, Kajuru, Chikun, and Zangon Kataf unable to work their fields. SOKAPU called for a shift from reactive responses to intelligence-led operations that dismantle criminal hideouts and improve communication with residents, emphasizing that the protection of life is the primary obligation of the state.

Northwestern and north-central Nigeria have for years seen recurrent violence by armed groups, often described by local officials as Fulani herdsmen, though no organization has claimed responsibility for the Naridon attack. The Kaduna State Police Command had not released a statement at the time of reporting. The killings come as political figures increasingly link insecurity to the 2027 election cycle; Atiku urged security agencies to pre-empt political violence, while SOKAPU’s letter called on Governor Uba Sani to act urgently. No further police or military deployment details were immediately announced, and residents continued to flee the area.