By Atlantic Reports

Repeated kidnappings and attacks on the outskirts of Kaduna metropolis are forcing some residents to abandon their homes, adding rental costs to households already facing the possible loss of their property investments.

Residents in Baban Saura and parts of Millennium City described relocating for safety, leaving houses empty or offering them for sale at prices they considered inadequate.

Yakubu Dahiru said he moved from Danhon II to Malali after attacks in his community and rented a self-contained apartment for ₦600,000.

“I rented a self-contained apartment for N600,000, and many people say I got it cheap because houses are now very expensive in the city,” he said.

“The insecurity is no longer in the villages; the bandits are coming closer to us, and it is better to leave than to be abducted and then forced to sell the house to pay ransom.”

Dahiru said he had not returned to his house since an attack last year. Fear had also prevented him from finding anyone willing to rent or guard the property.

Years of Investment Left Behind

For lower-income households, developing a home in a new layout offered a gradual route out of rented accommodation.

Umar Mohammed, a Kaduna-based estate surveyor, said relatively affordable land attracted market women and people earning their living through menial jobs. He said the opening of the Eastern Bypass encouraged the growth of these settlements.

Insecurity is now reversing that opportunity for some owners, forcing them to leave properties unoccupied or consider sales on unfavourable terms.

Saidu Hamza, a resident of Danhono II, said he relocated his family to Ilorin, Kwara State, following an attack. He has put his three-bedroom house, with an adjoining two-bedroom apartment, up for sale.

“With the security situation in the area, the price I am being offered is not very encouraging, and I could not leave my family there knowing the place is unsafe,” he said.

His account illustrates the choice confronting affected homeowners: remain exposed to danger or leave behind an investment without assurance of recovering its value.

Rental Pressure Moves into the City

Estate agents said the movement of residents into more established neighbourhoods was increasing pressure on available accommodation.

Maiunguwa Ibrahim, an agent operating around Kurmin Mashi, Gwamna Road and Badiko, said rents for some three-bedroom apartments along Gwamna Road had risen from between ₦1.2 million and ₦1.5 million to between ₦3 million and ₦3.5 million.

The figures are his assessment of particular properties, rather than a citywide rental survey. The period over which those increases occurred was not specified.

Mohammed attributed rising rents to a shortage of available apartments amid demand from people leaving insecure communities.

The consequence extends beyond displaced homeowners. Higher asking prices can also make accommodation harder to afford for existing tenants and other households seeking homes.

Families Face Continuing Abductions

Recent accounts of violence underline residents’ fears.

Gunmen reportedly killed a man identified as Sikiru in Baban Saura and abducted his wife, Hafsat, their 14-year-old son and six other people. A family member said the woman and her son remained in captivity.

In Alrahus Estate, Millennium City, a couple and their six-month-old daughter were reportedly abducted on October 6.

In a video circulated online, the husband, Ahmed Abubakar Zakka, appealed for help and said the kidnappers demanded ₦300 million. The reported demand has not been independently established in the supplied account.

Security sources cited scattered housing, inadequate fencing, limited security posts and proximity to forested areas as factors making some new layouts vulnerable. These are their assessments, rather than findings from a documented security review.

The supplied accounts do not establish how many households have relocated or provide a detailed official response to the recent attacks.

For affected families, the crisis is both a threat to life and a loss of housing security. Leaving may offer distance from immediate danger, but it brings new rent bills, uncertain property values and no clear timetable for returning home.

Atlantic Reports: Voices. People. Facts.