No fewer than 21 people, including two Islamic preachers, were killed after bandits attacked Bakali village in Fatika district of the Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The bandits struck on Tuesday.
A resident, Sani Bakali, who lost 13 family members in the attack, said the men operated for over two hours.
He said,
“Eleven of my relatives were killed in a house. They comprise three women and eight children of my younger brothers. All of them were locked in the house and burnt to death.
“The bandits killed two of my uncles in another building, while four corpses burnt beyond recognition were discovered along the bush path. Twenty-one persons were killed in all by the bandits while nine persons are missing.”
According to him, the bandits went around the village, shooting indiscriminately, during which two Islamic preachers, his neighbour and one of his friends were killed.
“We just ended funeral prayers for the 21 victims of the attack. The bandits came in a large number invaded the village on motorcycles around 4pm yesterday (Tuesday) wielding AK-47 rifles and shooting everybody.
“We initially buried 20 corpses before we discovered one more corpse inside the bush and we buried him too.
“People have fled the village and apart from the people killed, there are nine people we have yet to see after the incident. We don’t know whether they have been killed or not.”
The Kaduna State Police Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Muhammad Jalige, confirmed the attack.
He was, however, silenced on the casualty figure.
Jalige said,
“There was an attack in Giwa, Bakali village to be precise, and we have sent a team of police officers and men there to ascertain the situation of things.”
