How bandits attack village, kill vigilante leader, worshippers in Kaduna mosque

Bandits attack a mosque in Saya Saya village in Kaduna State’s Ikara Local Government Area, killing seven people in the process.

The incident and the number of casualties were confirmed by the state’s police officials.

Mansir Alhassan, the Kaduna Police Command’s interim public relations officer said the bandits broke inside the mosque on Friday night about 8 p.m when worshippers were doing the Isha’i (Sunset) prayers and started shooting at them, per reporting by Channels TV.

Seven of them were slain during the attack, including the head of a neighbourhood vigilante organisation.

He described how the bandits had followed the vigilante leader to the mosque where he went to pray before spotting him and firing when they saw him.

Alhassan further revealed that efforts are on to apprehend the bandits while security has been stepped up in the region and neighbouring areas by a joint team of police officers and troops.

The most recent attack occurred shortly after the state government hired 7,000 young people for the Kaduna Vigilance Service to aid federal security agencies in combating instability in the state.

One of the North-West states severely affected by banditry is Kaduna.

The armed bandits continue to cause havoc in the area despite several guarantees from the government and efforts by security forces. They run camps in a huge forest that crosses the states of Niger, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Katsina and are infamous for kidnapping large groups of students from schools.

North-West and central Nigeria have for years been terrorised by bandits who raid remote villages where they kill and abduct residents for ransom, as well as burn homes after looting them.