Bandits Kill Vigilante Leader, Six Worshippers In Kaduna Mosque Attack

Seven people have been killed during a mosque attack by bandits at Saya Saya village in Ikara Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Police authorities in the state confirmed the incident and the casualty figure on Saturday.

The acting Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna Police Command, Mansir Alhassan, told Channels Television that the bandits invaded the mosque at about 8 pm on Friday when the worshippers were observing the Isha’i (Sunset) prayers, and opened fire on them.

In the process, the assailants killed seven of them including the leader of a vigilante group in the community.

He explained that the bandits had trailed the vigilante leader to the mosque where he went to pray, and opened fire on him once sighted.

Alhassan further disclosed that security has been beefed up in the area and surrounding communities by a combined team of policemen and soldiers, while efforts are in top gear to arrest the bandits.

The latest attack comes on the heels of the state government’s recruitment of 7,000 youths into the Kaduna Vigilance Service to complement the efforts of federal security agencies in tackling insecurity in the state.

Kaduna is one of the states in the North-West region that is worst hit by banditry.

Despite repeated assurances by the government as well as efforts by security agencies, the gun-wielding bandits continue to wreak havoc in the region. They have also been notorious for mass school abductions, and maintain camps in a vast forest straddling the states of Niger, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Katsina.

North-West and central Nigeria have for years been terrorised by bandits who raid remote villages where they kill and abduct residents for ransom, as well as burn homes after looting them.
-Channels