9 killed, many missing in ISWAP attack on Chibok

No fewer than nine villagers have been killed and a military base set ablaze when Islamic State

West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters attacked Kautikari village in Chibok LGA of Borno State.

It was gathered that the insurgents stormed the village in their large numbers at about 7pm on Tuesday and opened fire on the people.

A member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) said, “We have recovered eight bodies from the scene of yesterday’s attack on our village; many are still unaccounted for as they are missing. The military here has been burnt down and some residential homes equally torched.”

The Wakilin Birnin Zazzau, Alhaji Suleiman Ibrahim Dabo, has said he knows nothing about the thugs that invaded the palace of the Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmed Nuhu Bamali, during the Eid el-Fitr durbar.

It would be recalled that Dabo – the member representing Zaria Constituency in the Kaduna State House of Assembly – was suspended alongside three other district heads for violating the rules of horse riding in the emirate.

In a statement on Tuesday, the spokesman of the emirate, Abdullahi Aliyu Kwarbai, said, “The rule directs all title holders against the use of thugs known as ‘Yan tauri’, brandishing local weapons during any occasion. And the four district heads violated this rule during the traditional Sallah durbar despite series of warnings.”

Others suspended are the Uban Garin Zazzau and District Head of Soba, Alhaji Bashir Shehu Idris; Sarkin Dajin Zazzau and District Head of Kubau, Alhaji Shehu Umar Aliyu; and Garkuwan Kudun Zazzau and Bursar, FCE Zaria, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Uwais.

Reacting to his suspension, Dabo said the thugs infiltrated his entourage during the durbar.

Speaking through his constituency aide, Ibrahim Hashim, Dabo said a video clip containing details of the commencement of the horse riding to their arrival at the palace, including the point when the thugs encroached on them, had already been submitted to the emirate council for perusal.

He said with a thorough scrutiny of the video clip by the council, the punitive measure slammed on him would be lifted.

When contacted on telephone, the District Head of Soba, Alhaji Bashir Shehu Idris, said he had taken the measure in good faith.

He, however, claimed that the district heads were not suspended from office but were only suspended from horse riding during activities.

The other two suspended district heads could not be reached on their mobile phones as at the time of filing this report.