No fewer than twenty-nine people were reportedly killed during the weekend when bandits stormed part of Southern Kaduna in Kaduna State.
OsunDaily News learnt that the attack happened at about 10 PM on Saturday. It was gathered that the terrorists stormed Runji, a village in the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of the state, shooting at residents.
Confirming the attack, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, in a statement on Sunday, said that several houses in the community were burnt down. At the same time, scores of people sustained degrees of injuries during the attack.
Records revealed that the latest attack happened barely three days after bandits killed eight people in the AtakโNjei community and the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of the state.
Aruwan explained further in the statement that troops of the Nigerian military engaged the terrorists in a fierce gunbattle, yet the terrorists succeeded in causing mayhem in the community.
Reports, however, revealed that the troops were still very much in the area to maintain law and order.
On his part, the National President of Atyap Community Development Association, Sam Timbuwak, told Channels Television that soldiers equally killed some of the bandits and some vigilantes who responded promptly to the area and engaged the criminals in a gun battle, adding that the casualty figure would have been higher if not for the intervention of soldiers.
Reacting, Governor Nasir El-Rufai condemned the killings, describing them as unacceptable and unjustifiable.
The governor commiserated with the families of those killed in the attack and prayed for the repose of their souls and the speedy recovery of the injured.