Cattle Rustlers Kill 42 In Zamfara State

A group of suspected cattle rustlers have reportedly killed at least 42 people in Gidan Kaso town of Birnin Magaji Local Government area of Zamfara state.

According to Vanguard report, properties which worth millions of naira were also destroyed when the culprits launched an attack on the affected village.
The attackers were also said to have told the villagers to either surrender their animals to them or be killed.

It was gathered that while some of the residents complied with the directive, those who refused to obey were instantly fired, as a result of which many of them died.
Reports also informed that scores of people in the affected village also sustained various degree of injure as they attempted to escape.

The attack occurred following the killing of one of the colleagues of the hoodlums which they vowed to revenge upon, an eye witness told newsmen.
“For the past 20 days now, these people have been threatening the residents of this town that they will attack it, and since then, the people have not been themselves following the fear put in their minds by the threat,” the witness added.



“Immediately the hoodlums got into the town, they opened five indiscriminately on whoever they came across, irrespective of sex, as one woman was among the already killed people,” Sahabi Mai Taya, a resident of the town who narrowly escaped death stated.

Sahabi said he lost one of his relatives in the attack and all his farm products were destroyed by the criminals, who up to the time of filling in this report were still at large.

It was gathered that some of the attackers were carrying different dangerous weapons, including AK47 riffles, axe, dungeons’ sharp knives and cutlass.

When journalists visited the affected village, the whole area was deserted while it was gathered that those who survived the attack had moved out along with the remaining animals they were left with.

While confirming the tragic attack, the chairman of the council, Alhaji aminu Sani, jaja informed that only 15 people were killed and three houses burnt to ashes including that of the chairman vigilante group of the area.
Jaja stated that those killed have since been buried, while those with injuries were receiving medical treatment at various health institutions around the local government.

He called on the entire residents in the ares to always report any suspicious character to the nearest authorities, and also continue to pray for peace in not only the town, or local government, but also to the state and the nation in general.
However, the spokesperson of the state police command, Dsp Lawal Abdullahi, could not be reached as all his phone lines were switched off.