• President blames monarchs, residents protest against visit
• They rejected his poor handling of security issues, says PDP
• Insurgents attack Maiduguri hours after president’s exit
• CAN wants closure of Maiduguri entry point probed
• Boko Haram terrorists now in Lagos, others, says Buratai
Eleven members of the same family were locked up and burnt in their house in Kaduna yesterday by armed bandits who invaded their Bakali Village in Fatika district of Giwa Local Government Area. It was learnt that the 11 victims were among 21 residents of the village who lost their lives to the unprovoked attack during which the gunmen set houses ablaze.
The attack came barely three days after suspected Boko Haram insurgents invaded Auno Village in Borno State, killing 10 people and destroying 18 vehicles.A community leader and head of the family of the burnt 11 victims in Kaduna, Malam Sani Bakali, told journalists that the gunmen stormed the village around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday and operated for two hours.
“The bandits stormed our village on several motorbikes, brandishing AK47 riffles. Immediately they came, they started moving round the village, shooting sporadically. In the process, they came to our house and set it ablaze, with 11 people inside. All the 11 people were members of my family. They included three women and eight children, who were wives and children of my three younger brothers.
“They also killed two of my uncles. While on the bush path, we discovered four other bodies burnt to death. They equally killed two imams, one of them was my neighbour and a close friend.“We just performed the funeral prayer for the victims this afternoon (Wednesday). Initially, it was 20 bodies that we buried before we later discovered one more body inside the bush, and we buried him too.
“Right now, people have fled the village. I am the only one left because I have come to pick something. I just took one of my brothers and his two wives to Zaria. I am about leaving now myself.“Apart from those killed, there are nine people we are yet to see since after the incident. As it is now, we don’t know whether they have been killed or not,” Bakali said.
When contacted, the new Kaduna State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Muhamnad Jalige, confirmed the attack, though he could not confirm the casualty figures.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. We are going to get across to you as soon as we have the details.”
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Nigeria from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and was in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday where he met with Governor Babagana Zulum over the killing of the 10 people by terrorists. Buhari departed Abuja last Friday to attend the 33rd Ordinary Session of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
While sympathising with the victims of insurgency at the palace of the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, Buhari urged the monarch and his people to cooperate with the military and other security agencies in fighting Boko Haram. He blamed the continuing terror and insecurity in Borno State and its environs on the community leaders.
“Boko Haram cannot come up to Maiduguri or its environs without the local leadership knowing because traditionally, the local leadership is in charge of security in their own respective areas,” he said. President Buhari promised more proactive and decisive measures to put an end to the menace in the country once and for all. He noted that intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies and the civil populace was critical towards achieving the objectives.
The Guardian
