Eleven people have reportedly been killed and many injured in a fresh attack by gunmen between Monday and Wednesday at Ungwar Gankon village in Zango Kataf and Maro village, Kajuru Local Government Areas (LGA) of Kaduna state.
The attack comes barely one week after the Defence headquarters deployed Special Forces from the Nigerian Airforce and Army to southern Kaduna in an effort to curb the spate of killings in the volatile region.
Although the police authorities are yet to confirm the incident, the Chairman of Zango Kataf Local Government, Elias Manza told Channels Television that the attack was a revenge action by suspected Fulani militia who invaded Ungwan Gankon community on Tuesday night and started shooting sporadically, killing two persons in the process and injuring many others.
He also said that eight houses were burnt by the attackers while the villagers have fled from the community for fear of a reprisal attack.
The Chairman also disclosed that the Special Forces of the Nigerian Army and Air Force have arrived in some of the vulnerable communities in an effort to protect the residents from being attacked by the bandits.
The Chairman of Kajuru local government, Cafra Caino, also confirmed that gunmen killed four people who were traveling in a commercial vehicle at Maro village, a border between Kajuru and Kachia local government areas.
He explained that the gunmen intercepted the commercial vehicle from the bush in the afternoon, shot four of the occupants to death including a pastor, and later took the driver away to an unknown destination.
The gunmen carried out similar attacks at Bugai village near Banikanwa in Kachia local government on Monday night, and killed five people including the village head and his mother, while several others were injured.
Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called for an end to killings in the country which they linked to the security challenges during the 1967-1970 civil war.
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ACF in a statement by its Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh after its meeting in the state, expressed concern that the north which has about 78 of Nigeria’s landmass, is faced with such magnitude of insecurity in the region.
While attributing the high level of insecurity in the north to unemployment, poverty, and non-inclusion of the youths in governance, ACF called on the state and federal governments as well as religious and traditional leaders to take practical steps to address the security and economic challenges confronting the region.
The ACF advised state governments from the northern region to pay adequate attention to agriculture which offers more opportunities for diversification and the development of a more sustainable economy for the region and the country at large.
