Fresh Herdsmen Attack Kill 10 in Kaduna Community...
Armed bandits suspected to be Fulani herdsmen yesterday attacked Nandu-Gbok village in Sanga Local Government Area (LGA), Kaduna State, killing at least 10 persons.
Besides death cases recorded due to the attack, THISDAY findings also revealed that the armed bandits razed down about 30 houses in the same community.
Similar attacks on many communities in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state in the fortnight had claimed over 100 lives with hundreds of residents displaced.
A resident, who spoke with THISDAY in confidence, said Nandu-Gbok was attacked at about 4:00 a.m yesterday, claiming that the gunmen laid siege to the community.
The resident explained that the bandits, who were in large number and armed with guns, machetes and sticks, started shooting sporadically on arrival to the community.
He said, “Gunshot woke all the residents at about 4:00 a.m. There was confusion. Everybody was running to the bush. They set houses ablaze. At least, ten persons were killed; some people were burnt to death; many others were injured and some residents are still missing.”
A member of House of Representatives, Hon. Nicholas Garba confirmed the killing on the community in a statement he personally issued yesterday, condemning the gruesome murder of the villagers and describing it as barbaric and callous.
Garba, currently representing Sanga-Jama’a Federal Constituency, noted that the attack on Nandu-Gbok occurred when victims of the massacres in communities in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state were being mourned.
He said, “We woke up this morning to the sad news of an attack by gunmen on Nandu Gbok, a community in Sanga LGA of Kaduna State. “About 10 bodies have been recovered and about 30 Houses confirmed burnt down.
“That the latest attack is coming while we are mourning and trying to deal with the devastating massacre wrought on the Adara People in Kajuru LGA has, once again, brought to the fore the plight of the indigenous people of Southern Kaduna.” The lawmaker noted that the Sanga Local Government Chairman and other stakeholders were assessing and trying to deal with the unfortunate situation.
While sympathising the families of the victims, the lawmaker appealed “to communities in the area to remain calm and not to contemplate any reprisal.”
He equally appealed “to security agencies in the state to reinforce their presence in Sanga, especially in the affected community with the aim of stopping further attack and fishing out the perpetrators of this heinous crime.
The lawmaker, also, urged then Sanga Local Government Council and the Kaduna State Government for immediate provision of relief materials to the displaced victims.
“The renewed and ferocious attacks on communities in southern Kaduna call for the urgent attention of the nation and the international community. Our communities are helpless and are pleading that all persons of conscience should speak out.
However, the Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mr. Yakubu Sabo did not respond to phone calls; neither did he reply WhatsApp messages seeking the reaction of the command on the attack.
Before the latest attack, the police spokesman has not been forthcoming with information on the persistent attacks, especially, on communities in Kajuru LGA.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on the Me- dia and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu last nigh, President Muhammadu Buhari urged perpetrators of communal and persistent violence in Kaduna State to realise that mutual violence had no winners, but losers on both sides of the conflict.
The president said he was “deeply troubled by the fact that sanctity of life is now treated with such reckless disregard that people derive joy in shedding the blood of others or perceived enemies.”