According to Vanguard, about 50 people, including seven soldiers, were reportedly
killed in Zamfara State yesterday by gunmen suspected to be cattle . The
attackers were also alleged to have burnt some houses and destroyed other
property worth millions of naira.According to police sources, the alleged reprisal attack,
believed to be the deadliest in recent times, occurred at Lilo town in Gusau
Local Government Area of the state.It was learnt that the incident followed the recent
killing of some rustlers by some people in the area.Eye witnesses said that the attackers
stormed the area when everybody was going about their businesses and opened
fire at anybody on sight.
“They just entered the town armed with sophisticated weapons
and before we knew it, they had started shooting whoever they came across,
which also led to the death of soldiers on surveillance who confronted them,”
it was said.Vanguard reliably gathered that hundreds of the victims
who sustained injuries were currently receiving treatment at Mada Hospital in
the state.“We have lost so many things, especially lives,” one Sa’adu
Musa, a resident of the town, who narrowly escaped death,Musa, who sobbed as he spoke said: “Just few hours after I
left, a phone call came to me that I should not go back to Lilo because it has
been overtaken by enemies. I fainted because I knew how I left my family.”
He said the town had been deserted as those who survived the
attack had since taken refuge at nearby villages, including Mada town and
Kwatarkwashi for fear of further attack on them.Musa told Vanguard that he left the town for
another neighbouring village to see one of his friends when the rustlers
struck.
Spokesman of the state Police Command, DSP Lawal Abdullahi,
confirmed the attack but explained that only eight people were killed while
another eight were injured.Abdullahi also confirmed the burning of some houses and the
stealing of 92 cows by the suspects, pointing out that the command had started
investigations into the matter.“The command is still investigating this painful incident.
We are yet to make any arrest but by God’s grace, we will fish the attackers
out just like we did the other time,” Abdullahi said.
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