At least ten persons have been killed by suspected bandits during separate attacks in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The bandits also kidnapped an unspecified number of people, mainly women, from the communities during the operation that lasted for several hours, Channels Television, reports.
Although the state and police authorities are yet to comment on the incident, a local security source told Channels Television that the bandits had earlier attacked some villages in neighbouring Niger State where they kidnapped some people, and while on their way back to their camp passing through Birnin Gwari, they were attacked by some local vigilantes at Ungwan Bula, Unguwar Dafillo and Ijinga villages in Randagi district of Birnin-Gwari.
In retaliation, the bandits were said to have returned to the villages on Saturday morning and killed ten people, including six local vigilante members and four villagers. They also kidnapped an unspecified number of people during the operation.
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Similarly, bandits also blocked the Kaduna- Birnin-Gwari Road at about 10 am on Saturday morning and attacked motorists. According to the Chairman of Birnin-Gwari Vanguards for Security and Good Governance, Ibrahim Nagwari, a final year student of Science Secondary School, Birnin-Gwari, who was on his way to Kaduna for the JAMB- UMTE registration and three other passengers, escaped with bullet wounds, as the armed bandits sprayed bullets on their vehicle at Manini village along Birnin-Gwari Kaduna Highway.
Nagwari said that the student is awaiting surgery for the removal of the bullet on his shoulder at Jibrin Maigwari General Hospital in Birnin-Gwari. While commending the local government authorities for taking care of the hospital bills of those injured in the attacks, the residents called on the government to as a matter of urgency set up a special centre for JAMB examinations in Birnin-Gwari in order to reduce the risk of students travelling far down to Kaduna for registration