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From Felix Ikem, Nsukka, Sola Ojo, Kaduna and John Adams, Minna
Gunmen continued their reign of terror, yesterday, with attacks on a police station in Enugu, military formation in Nige, four villages in Zamfara and a university in Kaduna.
The attacks, which came as Kaduna Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, demanded bombing of forests and killing of all bandits as recipe for freeing the country from their siege, claimed the lives of two security personnel and one civilian while scores were severely injured.
Heavy casualty was also reported on the side of the bandits as soldiers fought back to repel attack on a military formation in Niger State.
No fewer than 30 people were reportedly killed in renewed attacks on four villages in Zamfara State.
The attacks, which were carried out simultaneously, occurred on Tuesday in two local government areas. Villages attacked by bandits were Gobirawa, Rini, Gora, and Madoti Dankule in Bakura and Maradun LGAs in the state located in the north-western region of the country.
Witnesses said the assailants, who came on motorcycles in a large number, stormed the villages and began to fire sporadic gunshots.
Aminu Suleiman, sole administrator of Bakura LGA told Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Nasiru Magarya, who led a delegation of the state government to the affected villages, yesterday, that more than 30 people were confirmed killed after the villages were attacked.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), we prayed for 17 (dead) people in Rini and about 10 people in Gora; there were two incidents actually.
“The first attack that led to the killings of about more than 20 people and the reprisal (by the Yan-Sakai – local vigilante) that led to the killing of about 10 people as well,” he said.
In his reaction, the speaker of the Assembly explained that they were directed by Governor Bello Matawalle, to visit the victims and sympathise with them.
Other members of the delegation were the Commissioners of Security and Home Affairs, Information, as well as the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Zamfara State Police Command.
In Enugu, the bandits hit Adani Police Division in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, killed two police officers, injured scores and burnt the station.
A witness told Daily Sun the attacks started around 2am on Wednesday and lasted for over an hour.
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“We don’t know who the gunmen were because the incident happened in the night. The attackers fled after about one hour of gunfire, they burnt the police division’s office, killed two officers on duty and injured many,” said the source.
Mr. Daniel Ndukwe, spokesman for the state command confirmed that attack.
He said the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, Mohammed Ndatsu Aliyu, has ordered immediate deployment of the Command’s operational and intelligence assets to identify and apprehend the yet to be identified gunmen, who “without warrant and provocation, violently attacked and set ablaze Adani Police Station.”
He urged residents of the State, especially owners of medical facilities, to promptly report to the Police anyone suspected to have gunshot injuries.
Enugu Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has vowed not to allow bandits turn the state into a war zone.
The governor who spoke through his Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs, Jonathan Chukwuma said: “The attack on Adani Police Division in my local government area and murder of two policemen by unknown gunmen is shocking and I condemn it. Enugu state under Governor Ugwuanyi is a peaceful State; n fact, the most peaceful environment in the whole of Nigeria. So let no one or group think of making it a war zone. We will not allow this to happen.”
In Kaduna, it would appear as if the gunmen dared Governor El-Rufai for calling for extra judicial killings of violent criminals to ensure the safety of schools and Nigerians, as they attacked the Greenfield University, killed one staff and abducted an unspecified number of students.
Greenfield, the first private university in in the state, is located at kilometres 34 along Kaduna-Abuja highway in Chikun Local Government Area of the state after the NYSC permanent orientation camp.
Confirming the development to Daily Sun, spokesman for Kaduna State Police Command, Muhammed Jalige said: “There was an incident in the school yesterday. A staff of the institution was shot dead and some students kidnapped.”
In Niger State, bandits numbering about 60 invaded a military camp in Zazzaga community in Munya Local Government Area and engaged soldiers in a gun battle.
Sources said the bandits suffered heavy casualty during as soldiers fought back to repel them.
It would be the second attack on a military base in the state as three weeks ago bandits attacked a Security Joint TaskForce base in Allawa and Basa in Shiroro Local Government Area, killing five soldiers and a mobile policeman.
Unlike the Allawa and Basa Invasion, no soldier was killed in this latest attack, except a soldier identified as the RSM of the camp who was declared missing and his whereabouts unknown.
A source said the bandits stormed the community at about 4am and shared themselves into three groups.
One group made their way straight to the military camp located at Junior Secondary School about 500 meters from the town where they engaged the soldiers in a gun battle, the second group laid ambush for the soldiers on the major road leaving to the community while the third group made their way to the community to prevent any reinforcements from the community vigilantes and the youths.
