Kajuru Castle

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View of Kajuru Castle Kajuru Castle.jpg
View of Kajuru Castle

Kajuru Castle is a luxury villa, built between the years 1981 and 1989, at Kajuru (Ajure) village in southern Kaduna State, Nigeria. [1] It was built by a German expatriate in Nigeria, living in Kaduna at the time. [2]

Contents

The castle is located at about 45 km from Kaduna on a mountaintop in Kajuru (Ajure) village, Kaduna State. Built with 1 meter thick granite stone in a fanciful medieval-inspired Romanesque style, it is adorned with turrets, an armory and a dungeon.

The castle is privately owned, and has the capacity to host 150 guests. [3]

Architecture

The castle is often described as an African version of the Bavarian Castle in a grand 19th-century Romanesque revival style. It has a baronial styled hall, coupled with dungeons and towers lined with crenellated walls. The castle also has a big “knight’s hall” and a landlord (masters) residence and several other rooms over its three floors. [4]

Incidents

On 19 April 2019, unidentified terrorists armed with heavy weapons broke into the castle, [5] killing two people, a British communication specialist [6] and a Nigerian assistant for NGO company Mercy Corps. [7] The unidentified terrorists also kidnapped three others. [8]

Later on, the kidnapped hostages were released after an intervention by the Nigerian police. [9] [10]

See also

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References

  1. Hotels.ng. "Kajuru Castle". Kajuru Castle | Hotel in Kaduna | Hotels.ng. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  2. Wale-Ojo, Lanre (Sep 20, 2017). "Kajuru Castle: Nigeria's Hidden Haven In Kaduna". Tribune. Tribune. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  3. "All you need to know about planning a day trip to Kajuru castle". Pulse NG. Pulse. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  4. Johnson, Elizabeth Ofosuah. "The Beautiful Kajuru Castle in Nigeria Promises a Taste of 19th-Century Royalty". Face2FaceAfrica. Face2FaceAfrica. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  5. "Terror attack on Kajuru Castle". Punch Newspapers. 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  6. "British aid worker killed by gunmen at a holiday resort in Nigeria". CNN. Cable News Network. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  7. "What we know about Mathew Oguche, Nigerian killed in Kaduna attack". BBC News UK. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  8. "British Woman Killed by Gunmen at Nigerian Holiday Resort". BBC News UK. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  9. "Why Nigeria Needs To Reclaim Kajuru Castle". Independent Newspaper Nigeria. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  10. "Three people kidnapped in Kajuru castle freed – Police | Premium Times Nigeria". 2019-05-01. Retrieved 2021-06-26.

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