Again, bandits terrorising Kaduna State killed 10 persons at the weekend in two separate attacks on three villages in Jema’a and Kaura local government areas.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai had on Friday night extended the 24-hour curfew imposed on troubled Zangon-Kataf to Jema’a and Kaura LGAs to bring the situation under control. The governor, on his Twitter handle on Friday night, said, “at the request of security agencies, the Kaduna State government has extended to Jema’a and Kaura LGAs the 24-hour curfew that is in force in Kauru and Zangon Kataf LGAs to help contain violence, restore law and order in the area.”
This time, the bandits attacked Zikpak, Ungwan Masara, in Fantsuam Chiefdom of Jema’a Local Government and Maraban Kagoro, in Kaura LGA, around 7 pm on Friday. The attack on the three communities left nine persons dead on the spot, another one died a few hours later, while at least 12 people were said to have sustained varying degrees of injuries. Many houses were also razed.
Though the state Police Command is yet to make an official statement on the development, a witness account said gunmen numbering about 40 invaded the villages and started shooting indiscriminately.
The source said one of the victims who sustained injuries in the Friday night attack died in the hospital Saturday morning, raising the casualty figure to 10.
A Kafanchan-based journalist who was at Zikpak to assess the situation on Saturday said he escaped by the whiskers when the gunmen suddenly launched another attack Saturday morning.
“I was at Zikpak this morning to interview survivors of the Friday night attack. In fact, the youth leader had taken me and a colleague round the village to see the scenes. So, we stood in front of a house to do an interview. Suddenly, we started hearing gunshots from the bush at the back of the house. We had to run for our dear lives,” he said.
He said the Saturday morning attack was successfully repelled by men of the vigilance group and no casualty was recorded.
The incessant attacks and attendant deaths have drawn the ire of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
