No fewer than seven people have been killed in what security agencies described as reprisal attacks in Kauru and Lere Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
The fresh killings which occurred on Saturday came barely two days after seven other people were murdered by gunmen in Zango Kataf LGA.
The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs in Kaduna, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the incidents in a statement hours after the attacks occurred.
He said the counter-attacks occurred in some herders’ settlements in Kauru and Lere LGA.
Quoting the operational feedback from the security agencies, the commissioner confirmed that the attacks were carried out by aggrieved youths following the killing of seven persons at Gora Gan in Zangon Kataf.
The security agencies reported that seven people were killed in a counter-killing in Ungwan Idi and Kasheku villages of Kauru LGA while two herders were injured at Ningi village in Lere LGA.
Aruwa also noted that troops were searching for five persons whose whereabouts were unknown after the attack, while six huts were burnt in the incident.
In his reaction, Governor Nasir El-Rufai condemned the renewed counter-killings and extended his condolences to the families who lost their loved ones.
He also wished those recuperating a speedy recovery, describing the renewed killing and counter-killing of innocent citizens of Atyap and Fulani ethnicity as unfortunate.
The governor decried the resort to violence, noting that it was not a solution to grievances and disputes but a tragic way to escalate matters and drag people into more pains and misery.
He directed the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide relief materials to the affected families with immediate effect.
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