Gunmen kill 21 persons in Kaduna

No less than 21 persons have been gruesomely murdered in an 'unprovoked attack' in Bakali Village in Fatika district of Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna.

According to The Guardian, among the deceased were 11 members of the same family, who were locked up and burnt alive in their home on Tuesday, February 11, 2020.

Other residents of the community took to their heels, as the gunmen invaded their community in large numbers.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Wednesday, February 12, 2020, paid a condolence visit to the people of Borno after 30 people were killed in an attack at Auno, near Maiduguri area of the state. [Premium Times] Pulse Nigeria

A community leader and head of the family of the burnt 11 victims, Malam Sani Bakali, stated that the gunmen operated for about two hours.

Bakali said, “The bandits stormed our village on several motorbikes, brandishing AK47 riffles. Immediately they came, they started moving round the village, shooting sporadically. In the process, they came to our house and set it ablaze, with 11 people inside. All the 11 people were members of my family. They included three women and eight children, who were wives and children of my three younger brothers.

“They also killed two of my uncles. While on the bush path, we discovered four other bodies burnt to death. They equally killed two imams, one of them was my neighbour and a close friend.“We just performed the funeral prayer for the victims this afternoon (Wednesday). Initially, it was 20 bodies that we buried before we later discovered one more body inside the bush, and we buried him too."

He continued, “Right now, people have fled the village. I am the only one left because I have come to pick something. I just took one of my brothers and his two wives to Zaria. I am about leaving now myself.“Apart from those killed, there are nine people we are yet to see since after the incident. As it is now, we don’t know whether they have been killed or not."

ASP Muhamnad Jalige, the Kaduna Police Command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), has confirmed the attack.

While Jalige could not confirm the casualty figures, he however said a team of policemen has been sent to ascertain the situation of things in the community.

The state of security across the country under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, has become a subject of heated discourse in the public domain in recent times.

Buhari was on Wednesday, February 12, booed when his convoy made its way into Maiduguri during his condolence visit to the state after a recent terrorist attack that claimed 30 lives.

Residents were seen expressing their displeasure over the security situation in the state.

“Bama so!” “Bamayi!”, which translates to “We don’t want; we’re not interested," greeted Buhari as his convoy sped into Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.