There was tension as over 100 residents of Jirrawa community in Kaura-Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State yesterday stormed the Government House, Gusau, with the dead body of an alleged victim of the latest assault on the community by bandits.
The victim was killed yesterday, according to spokespersons for the community, Muntari Abdullahi and Muhammadu Sani.
According to report, the bandits invaded the village around 10am and shot sporadically in the air.
“We later realised that they had already killed Shafiu Inusa on his farm while he was trying to apply fertilizer on his plants after the rains of last night,” Abdullahi said.
He said the deceased was just recovering from an earlier gunshot wound inflicted on him when bandits attacked the village four months ago.
Shafiu’s father was murdered during that first attack, Abdullahi said.
He added: “It is exactly four months now that his (Shafiu) father was killed in a similar attack, because the wives of the old man are completing their four months stay at home as mandated by Islam.
“We gathered from his farm neighbour and brother that initially, one of the bandits appeared before them saying anyone who knew he was guilty should run and who was not should stay.
“Shafiu refused to run and when the others numbering over a hundred arrived, they opened fire and killed him instantly. Here are his remains that we brought for the governor to see and know that this peace initiative is not working for us.”
Sani said: “these criminals have always passed by our village without any threat or harassment until the last few months.
“So far, they have attacked us more than eight times and have killed many people.
“Even while on our way to Gusau today, we received a phone call that they also killed one Bala Danrabi, a vigilance group leader who had always fought the bandits,” he said.
Police Commissioner Usman Nagogo expressed shock over the attack, but told NAN that such incidents are expected during conflict resolution.
He said: “I can confidently assure you that the peace initiative by Gov. Bello Matawalle, which I lead in the state, is working as can be seen in the release of kidnap victims and the repentance of several bandits, but that does not mean that the hardened criminals are no longer there; they are the ones that will perpetrate this now,” he said.
