Gunmen suspected to be bandits have killed the village head of Rumache in Kukoki ward of Shiroro local government area of Niger state, Mallam Ahmad Yakubu Rumache and kidnapped 17 villagers in four other communities in the local government area.
The Nation gathered that the bandits invaded the village at about 2 am on Friday.
The bandits also dispossessed the villagers of their valuable belongings before setting their houses ablaze.
They also reportedly abducted the son of the murdered village head.
The attack came some hours after similar acts by armed bandits on Magami, Gungu, Zongoro and Masuku Villages in Shiroro local government area where 17 people were kidnapped.
It was gathered that several villagers sustained various degrees of injuries from gunshots and other dangerous weapons used during the attacks.
The Chairman of Shiroro local government area, Mallam Suleiman Dauda Chukuba, confirmed the attacks.
He said the villagers were taken unaware and it was difficult to ascertain the number of bandits who invaded the village.
“The attack happened at midnight around 1 to 2 pm. They were many and they took the villagers unaware. No one could ascertain their numbers because it was night.
“As for casualties, only the village head of Rumache was killed while his son was kidnapped. However, a day before, the bandits invaded four communities and kidnapped 17 people in Magami, Gungu, Zongoro and Masuku Villages communities,” he stressed.
He stated that the Police from Erena Division and some vigilantes are currently scouring the bushes and the villages.
The Chairman then appealed for urgent government intervention stressing that Shiroro local government area needs nothing other than prayers and government intervention.
“I need government intervention because of the way this is going, we need government intervention.”
One of the children of the deceased village head, Al-Mustapha Ahmed ,also confirmed the death of his father, expressing shock over the attack.
He lamented that the government has deliberately remained complacent on the lingering security challenges rocking the whole Shiroro local government.
According to Ahmed: “Attacks of this nature have almost become a daily routine, thereby constantly subjecting unarmed and peace-loving people to ceaseless tension, fear, anxiety, and panic.
“It is no longer news that inhabitants of these affected parts of the local government have since been robbed of security, forcing us to scamper helter-shelter for security and safety somewhere else. People have been displaced and ironically made circumstantial but avoidable refugees in their own ancestral land.”
_____
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2020 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant source.
