Again, gunmen kill 25 in Zamfara villages

Residents said on Wednesday afternoon, a motor-bike riding gang of armed men opened fire on locals harvesting sweet potatoes on their farm at Garin Halilu village killing nine on the spot. Thereafter around 5:00pm the gunmen returned to the community when the bodies of the slain farmers were being prepared for burials and shot three residents dead again. “They then proceeded to neighbouring Gidan Kaka village and shot dead nine persons there. And the remaining four persons killed were from Nasarawa Gödel village who went to offer help to those under attack at Gidan Haliliu,” A resident Tukur Gödel told Daily Trust. However, the spokesman of the state police command, SP Muhammad Shehu, gave the figures of those killed as five and said normalcy had been restored after the attack by the unidentified armed bandits. “The Zamfara State Police Command wishes to confirm that on 19/12/2018 at about 1505hrs, a group of armed bandits attacked some villagers of Gidan Halilu Village in Billashe district of Birnin Magaji LGA on their farms. “On receipt of the report, combined teams of PMF/CTU and conventional police personnel headed by the Area Commander Kauran Namoda mobilized to the affected village to repel the attack, restore normalcy and arrest the perpetrators. “On getting to the scene, five corpses were recovered with one other person injured. The corpses were taken to hospital in Birnin Magaji, while the injured person was admitted for treatment. The scene and its environs have been subjected to extensive bush combing with a view to prevent further attack,” the PPRO added. Shehu further said that fear reduction and confidence building patrols/stop and search were ongoing and the command would like to use the opportunity to appeal to members of the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious movement to the nearest police station for prompt action.]]>