- The attackers kill one volunteer security guard and injured one Army personnel at Gamji village during a gun duel with soldiers
- Police say they are on the trails of the attacker
Gunmen have killed at least seven persons during an attack on Gara and Gamji villages in the Burra District of Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
The victims were killed in separate attacks on Tuesday night after the gunmen invaded the villages on motorcycles.
The local security outfit was overwhelmed by the superior firepower of the assailants who were heavily armed forcing the ill-equipped local security personnel to run for their dear lives, a member of the vigilante group said.
The vigilante who spoke in confidence with newsmen said that the attackers shot and killed the 50-year-old ward head of Gara, Mai Anguwa Ali, along with five other persons.
A resident of the community, who did not want to be named, said the gunmen burgled shops in the village and carted away foodstuffs and two motorcycles.
Confirming the killings, the Bauchi state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Ahmed Mohammed Wakili, said the gunmen, he described as bandits stormed the two villages in large number, shooting sporadically and killed seven persons in the process.
According to SP Wakil, “We received a distress call that some bandits had attacked Kada and Gamji villages under Burra district of Ningi LGA. They came in large number, shooting sporadically, as a result, Seven people were killed.
“The operatives of the command in conjunction with the Nigerian military, engaged the bandits, three of them were neutralised in the process, while others scampered in disarray into the nearby bush with possible gun wounds.”
He disclosed that during the operation, a soldier was injured and rushed to an undisclosed hospital, where he is currently receiving treatment.
The PPRO listed the persons killed as Ali Usman; Shuaibu Adamu; Yunusa Adamu; Ali Alton and Umar Sabo Ibrahim, all from Gamji village.
He said police operatives in conjunction with other sister security agencies and local vigilantes have currently cordoned off and combing the surrounding bush in the area with a view to searching for the bandits.
According to him, the state Commissioner of Police, Auwal Musa Mohammad, had directed the Area Commander of the area to do everything humanly possible within the law in order to arrest the perpetrators.