At least five persons have been killed in separate attacks by gunmen in Zango-Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Samuel Aruwan confirmed the incidents on Saturday.
A ten-year-old herder was among those killed in the attacks carried out around the Maduachi Forest while another resident was also killed in Kurmin-Masara along Bakin Kogi in Atyap chiefdom.
The assailants also attacked the Jankasa General Area Ground – the boundary between Zangon Kataf and Kaura Local Government – and shot one man dead on his farm.
Ungwan Rana in Zonzon District was also attacked with a resident dying from gunshot wounds just as one other person lost his life at Ungwan Gaiya Village.
The assailants were later repelled by a combined team of Operation Safe Haven and the Police Tactical Squad.
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A Conspiracy?
Kaduna, a state in Nigeria’s northwest region, has become a hotbed of kidnapping and banditry.
While the state government and security have constantly assured residents of tackling the security issues affecting the state, criminals appear emboldened in their attacks.
The mass abduction of school students is also rampant in the state. Last month, at least 100 students were kidnapped in a Baptist school.
Some of the students were later released but eighty-three others are still in the custody of the kidnappers inside the forest, with their parents and the school management praying fervently for their safe return.
High-profile persons have also been abducted by the gunmen.
Despite the incessant assaults on the state, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has vowed not to negotiate with or pay ransom to abductors, claiming the state is being targeted due to his government’s stance on the matter.
“The bandits and their leaders decided to collectively target Kaduna State because of the position we have taken that we will not negotiate with them, that we will not give them a penny of taxpayers’ money and whoever comes to Kaduna for banditry or kidnapping will most likely end up dead,” he told Channels Television’s Sunday Politics in April.
