Bakali attack: Civilian JTF did not engage bandits – Commander

Following the attack that claimed 21 lives including 16 members of the same family in Bakali village of Fatika District in Giwa local government area of Kaduna State, the Commander of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in the state, Aminu Golo has said his men did not trigger the attack on the village.

Daily Trust reports that eyewitness from Bakali had claimed that the bandits who attacked the village had done so while in pursuit of members of the civilian JTF.

The attack, according to a community leader, Alhaji Sani Nuhu Bakali also claimed the lives of five members of the CJTF.

However, when asked why members of the CJTF embarked on an operation without Police or Military cover, Golo told Daily Trust that his men were not part of the people that engaged the bandits at Bakali village and therefore could not say exactly what happened in the attack.

“I am the Commander of CJTF in the state and the last operation we partook in was the one at Birnin Gwari and we conducted most of our operations in collaboration with the Police. I am not aware of the operation at Bakali village,” he said.

However, our correspondent gathered from Hussaini Danjuma, another resident of Bakali, that the village had been deserted since the attack adding that their wives and children had fled to neighbouring communities due to lack of security presence.

Danjuma, who lost three of his biological brothers in the attack, said he was now the only survivor in his family adding that: “we are all afraid because the security agencies are not here in the village. In fact, only few men slept in the village after the attack.”

Our correspondent made several efforts to reach the Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Muhammad Jalige on why there was no security presence in Bakali, but the PPRO did not respond to phone calls and a text message.