No fewer than nine people have been reportedly killed by suspected terrorists at the Ungwan Dakwa village around the Dogo Dawa ward in the troubled Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
It was learnt yesterday that the incident happened on Saturday at about 2 pm when the hoodlums raided the community, shooting indiscriminately.
Although the police authorities had yet to comment on the incident, the member-elect in the House of Assembly for Birnin Gwari State Constituency, Yahaya Gwari, confirmed the attack on the community where the persons were killed.
Gwari said many villagers also sustained varying degrees of injuries following the attack.
He said those injured were rushed to hospitals at neighbouring Funtua in Katsina State for treatment, while most of the villagers fled from their homes due to fear of a fresh attack by the suspected bandits.
Kaduna is one of the North-Western states that are worst hit by bandits who have continued to wreak havoc in the region.
According to him, the terrorists in huge numbers stormed the community on Saturday where they carried out the dastardly act.
Those who sustained injuries, he said, were rushed to neighbouring Funtua in Katsina state where they were currently receiving medical attention.
He added that most villagers had fled their homes following the attack, leaving the community deserted.
Intercommunal attacks and abductions for ransom have been on the rise again after a lull during elections in February and March for the presidency and governorship posts.
Gunmen killed 33 people in an attack on a farming village in Kaduna last month, part of inter-communal violence between ethnic Fulani herders and pastoral farmers.
Earlier this month, ten school children were also kidnapped in central Kaduna, though eight later managed to escape two weeks after their abduction.
Catholic priests are also targeted for kidnappings.
As well as battling criminal gangs, Nigeria’s armed forces are also fighting a 14-year-long jihadist conflict in the northeast of the country and simmering separatist tensions in the South-East.
When contacted, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mohammad Jalige could not confirm the incident as he could not take the call placed to his mobile telephone and did not respond to the text message either.
