Gunmen murder new community head in Kaduna

• Attack Plateau LG, many feared dead
• Miyetti Allah boss, four others confirmed killed in Abuja
• ECWA tasks govt on insecurity

Gunmen have murdered a newly installed community leader in Chikun Local Council, Kaduna State, Isiaku Madaki, at his Kakura residence, yesterday.

A resident of Kakura, Baban David, disclosed to journalists that the deceased was, on Saturday, installed as the community’s leader.

Kakura, a community predominantly occupied by the Gbagi ethnic group, has other tribes with few Fulani settlers, who have lived in the community for decades.

David said: “We all gathered in his residence on Saturday to rejoice with him over his appointment. However, we were shocked when in the early hours of Sunday, we began to hear gunshots. We could not come out of our houses due to fear. Later, we were told that the gunmen had killed him in the presence of his wife and other family members.

“We found his dead body laying on the ground. His wife told us the gunmen broke into their residence and shot him. They neither took anything nor abducted anybody.”

It was, however, gathered that in the morning, the aggrieved natives allegedly attacked the Fulani settlement where 14 people were feared dead.

At the time of filing this report, police had been deployed to the community to maintain law and order. However, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Mohammed Jalige, could not be reached, as his telephone was switched off.
ALSO, in Kanam Local Council of Plateau State, many were feared killed, as gunmen attacked some villages.

Residents of the affected villages, who escaped the attack and ran to Jos/Bukuru Metropolis, told journalists that they escaped the terrorists by the whiskers.

According to the residents, the bandits had attacked Kukawa, Gyambawu, Dungur and Keram villages where about a score of people were killed.

But debunking the report, spokesman for Plateau Police Command, ASP Gabriel Ogaba, maintained that the command had adopted a new strategy toward curbing insecurity in the state.

His told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN): “The police command wishes to state clearly that Plateau State, especially Jos, its capital, is very peaceful. The command has adopted a new security strategy in line with our normal routine patrol and check.”

MIYETTI Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has confirmed the killing of Gwagwalada Area Council of Abuja Chairman, Adamu Aliyu.

Aliyu was reportedly shot dead alongside four others near Daku village in Dobi ward in Gwagalada on Thursday.

It was learnt that three persons were abducted, while three others, who sustained gunshot wounds, were receiving treatment at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada.

Confirming the incident to The Guardian, yesterday, MACBAN Secretary, Mohammed Usman, said the late MACBAN chairman and six others were returning from Izom market in Niger State when gunmen attacked them.

MEANWHILE, the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has urged the Federal Government to end the constant killings and abductions in the country, particularly in Kaduna, Kebbi, Zamfara, Plateau and Niger.

In a communiqué issued at the end of its 69th General Church Council (GCC), at the weekend, the President of ECWA, Rev. Stephen Baba-Panya, called on all tiers of government to do all they could to secure the release of kidnap victims and halt activities of terrorists in the country.

Baba-Panya also called on the government to ensure the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) scattered all over the country to their original places of abode.