Bandits in their large numbers stormed two communities in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna State and killed scores of security personnel comprising Civil Defenders, Policemen, Soldiers and members of a Vigilante group at a checkpoint on Sunday.
A resident of the area, Abubakar Kakangi, told journalists on Monday that the affected communities were Kubau and Unguwan Zakara villages of the LGA.
According to Kakangi, the bandits had sealed an agreement with the farmers in the area as a pre-condition to allow the locals access their farms.
However, the bandits usually passed through the villages to sell rustled cows which the securitymen stationed were not happy about.
According to him, “Three weeks ago, the securitymen killed a boy who was looking after their (Bandits’) cattle. The bandits were not happy over the killing of the boy.
“Then yesterday (Sunday), the bandits stormed Aka security checkpoint along Birnin-Gwari to Kakangi/Randagi Road of Western part of Birnin-Gwari LGA and attacked everyone on sight including the security personnel some of whom were killed.
“The attack took place around 2:00pm. The bandits divided themselves into two groups and carried out the attacks simultaneously at the two villages where they killed scores of security personnel including the Civil Defence Corps, Police, Vigilantes and Soldiers.”
As at the time of filing this report, there was no official statement from the Police or any other security Service or even the Kaduna State government on the incident.
Meanwhile, a call placed through to the Police Spokesperson, DSP Muhammed Jalige, did not go through at press time.