Boko Haram, Bandits On Rampage …Kill 15, Kidnap Six Women In Zamfara …Murder Six In Adamawa …PDP Suspends Campaign As Bandits Kill Sen Marafa’s Sister

Police in Zamfara State yesterday confirmed the killing of 15 persons and kidnap of six women by gunmen in Gusau Local Government Area of the state.
Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Muhammad Shehu, made the confirmation in a statement in Gusau.
Shehu said that on Monday, there was an attack in Wonaka, Ajja, Mada, Ruwan Baure, Doka, Takoka and Tudun-Maijatau villages of Mada district in Gusau area.
He said a woman was among the persons killed, adding that the attackers also kidnapped six women and a man.
“Fortunately, with the efforts of police and sister security agencies, the abducted women have regained their freedom and have re-joined their families.
“Normalcy has been restored to the affected villages, with improved deployment of PMF, CTU, Special Forces and Military teams to the area to forestall further attack on neighbouring villages.
“The attack is presumably a reprisal to the attack on some Fulanis in a J5 vehicle on Feb. 1, 2019 where seven Fulanis and their animals were killed and set ablaze by the outlawed `Yansakai,’ he said.
In another development, the PPRO said that the District Head of Gwashi in Bukkuyum Local Government Area reported to the police that armed bandits stormed Batauna village and killed 11 persons and set houses ablaze.
He, however, said that the details were sketchy to the police due to distance and terrain inaccessibility and lack of GSM coverage in area.
“Units of PMF/CTU/Special Forces and military were mobilized to complement the effort of security personnel already on ground and also confirm the authenticity of the report.
“The entire area and environs have been subjected to co-ordinated bush-combing for possible arrest of the perpetrators.
“The command urges members of the public to avoid taking laws into their hands and always report all complaints and grievances to constituted authority for legal redress.
“Discreet investigation into this dastardly act has already commenced and all perpetrators will be fished out and made to face the full wrath of the law,” he said.
Also, Boko Haram jihadists have killed six people in separate attacks in northeast Nigeria, looting shops and burning homes, residents said yesterday.
The latest attacks underline the threat to civilians in the region, with security high on the agenda as Nigerians prepare to elect a new president and parliament on February 16.
Last Monday, fighters loyal to factional leader Abubakar Shekau stormed the villages of Shuwa and Kirchina villages, in the Madagali area of Adamawa state.
Madagali is in the north of Adamawa, near the border with neighbouring Borno State, which has been at the epicentre of the nine-year conflict.
“They (Boko Haram) killed one person in Shuwa and two more in Kirchina,” Maina Ularamu, a community leader and former political administrator in the district, told newsmen
“The terrorists attacked Shuwa around 6:45 pm (1745 GMT), firing guns and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and chased away the policemen in the town.”
The insurgents stole vehicles, including a police van, and looted shops before setting fire to buildings.
Troops from Madagali, 13 kilometres (eight miles) away, deployed and engaged the militants in a fight, forcing them to withdraw.
The gunmen attacked Kirchina as they fled towards the Sambisa Forest which straddles Borno and Adamawa states, said local resident Sylvanus Waramulu.
“They killed two people, looted shops and burnt them along with several houses,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, Boko Haram fighters from the same faction shot dead three goat herders near the village of Tubba, some eight kms from the Borno state capital Maiduguri.
Two of the three were killed as they tried to recapture the herd of goats. Two others were missing and presumed captured, said local civilian militia leader Mustapha Muhammad.
Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted farmers, loggers and herders, accusing them of passing information on the group to soldiers and the militia fighting them.
Last month, four farmers were killed as they worked near Molai village, five kms outside Maiduguri.
Boko Haram’s decade-long uprising to establish a hardline Islamic state in remote northeastern Nigeria has killed more than 27,000 people and displaced 1.8 million from their homes.
The conflict has spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis in the region.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suspended its governorship campaign in Zamfara State following fresh attacks on communities by bandits in the state.
The party’s governorship candidate, Alhaji Bello Matawalle announced the decision at a news briefing in Gusau yesterday.
“l want to announce that I have suspended all my campaign programmes due to the renewed rising bandits activities in the state.
“l also wish to call on the government and security agencies to come up with practical measures that will adequately bring the bandits activities to an end,” he said.
Matawalle, who expressed concern over the attacks, lamented that the situation was now taking a new dimensions where victims were particularly identified before being either killed, kidnapped or maimed.
Our correspondent reports that the bandits had on Monday stormed Ruwan Bore community in Gusau local government killing the elder sister of a serving Senator, Kabiru Marafa and several others.
An eye witness, Usman Makama told newsmen that the hoodlums attacked the village head’s House,where they killed one of his wives before moving into the village.
“They put the gun in her mouth and blew up her head after which they abducted the village head and one other person and then moved inside the village.
“This morning, we carried out the burial rites of 13 persons including Ade, the district head’s wife and we were told that the bandits attacked two other villages of Tudun Wadan Mai Jatau and Takoka where they killed scores,” he said.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Mohammed Shehu said the police were on top of the situation but that details were still being scanty.