Bandits kill 38 villagers in Kaduna

At least 38 villagers were killed when bandits raided villages in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State at the weekend.

The places attacked were Kauran Fawa, Marke and Riheya villages in Idasu, Giwa LGA.

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The state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the attack in a statement issued on Sunday.

According to him, houses, trucks and cars were also burnt, along with agricultural produce at various farms.

Aruwan said Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who received the reports with sadness, had sent condolences to the families of the victims of the brutal attacks while praying for the repose of their souls.

The governor also commiserated with the affected communities and directed the State Emergency Management Agency to conduct an urgent assessment of the area towards providing relief.

Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the renewed terrorist killings in Kaduna State.

The president, in a statement issued Sunday by his media aide, Garba Shehu, said the gruesome nature of recent incidents in Kauran Fawa, Marke and Ruhiya of Idasu Ward of Giwa Local Government Area, had made him sad and the killings “unacceptable”.

President Buhari said our security forces had turned the heat on the terrorists who are getting frustrated and are soft-targeting innocent citizens, looting their assets, burning their homes and killing them indiscriminately.

He restated his directive to the security and intelligence chiefs to do everything they can to destroy the remaining vestiges of the terrorists.

In another incident, at least 10 people lost their lives and more than a dozen were forcefully abducted when gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents attacked a community in Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State yesterday.

It was learnt that the insurgents stormed Kilangal village, the hometown of Engr Abdullahi Musa Askira, the Deputy Speaker of Borno State House of Assembly around 2pm and opened fire on civilians, leaving dozens of people to sustain various degrees of gun wounds.

An impeccable source told Daily Trust that the Air Task Force fighter jet came about two hours later but the damage had been done.

“They came around 2pm operating without any resistance. They were just shooting sporadically and the whole village was thrown into a state of confusion. People ran into bushes for the safety of their lives.

“At least 10 civilians were confirmed killed, an unspecified number of women and adolescents youths, more than a dozen have been abducted by the attackers. Several people sustained gunshot wounds,” an impeccable source said.

A member of civilian JTF said that they razed down houses including that of the district head and burnt 7 cars after they had looted food items.

“It was a black Sunday for us in our village. They came in hundreds and looted and carted away food items of farmers. They burnt down houses including that of the district head and a total of seven cars destroyed.

“They also went away with a pick up van used to convey those innocent youths they kidnapped. Our people were helpless because the ground troops were not present,” the civilian JTF source said.

It would be recalled that recently insurgents group had intensified attacks on the communities in the fringe of Sambisa forest of the southern part of the state.

In another development, seven people were killed in a violent clash between Ichen and Ndakka ethnic groups in the Bissola chiefdom of Kurmi Local Government Area of Taraba State.

Daily Trust learnt that the clash started late Saturday following the removal of a ward head, from the Ndakka tribe, allegedly by the chief of Bissola who is from the Ichen tribe.

This was said to have led to a protest by Ndakka youths.

The protest, it was learnt, turned violent, resulting in the killing of seven people and the destruction of houses belonging to both tribes.

When contacted, the Taraba State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Usman Abdullahi, confirmed the incident, but said only one person was killed.

“There was a clash between Ichen and Ndakka tribes over chieftaincy tussle and one person was killed and the situation was brought under control following the deployment of mobile police,” he said.

From Mohammed I. Yaba (Kaduna), Muideen Olaniyi (Abuja),  Olatunji Omirin (Maiduguri) & Magaji Hunkuyi (Jalingo)