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On Thursday January 31, about 100 armed robbers attacked residents of Birnin-Gwari town, in Kaduna State, killing three policemen.
According to the Kaduna State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Aminu Lawan the robbers raided houses, razed a police station and two banks in the area in an operation that lasted about two hours.
“They headed for the police station in the area and engaged the policemen on duty in a gun duel. They shot sporadically for hours and overpowered the policemen on duty,” an anonymous resident is reported to have said.
“Thereafter, they went to two banks located in the town where we heard a deafening sound of a bomb across the town. They vandalised the banks and break their ATM machines,” the resident narrated.
Reports claim the attack came less than 24 hours after the Emir of Birnin Gwari, Alhaji Zubairu Jibril, lamented how the area was taken over by armed robbers.
Jibril who led traditional rulers, politicians and traders on a courtesy visit to the Kaduna State Governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, to make a formal complaint about the activities of armed bandits in his domain said the robbers raped wives of victims, and that over 7,000 heads of cattle were stolen by the bandits.
“From November last year, when we had the Dogondawa incident, the government promised to do something the late governor and the General Officer Commanding, One Division, were there, but till now, my people are still waiting for the action of the state government. The situation has worsened. They are doing what they like and they are heavily armed.
“Except in Birnin Gwari town, in other villages in my domain, I am not in charge, and you are not in charge too,” Jibril said.
In October last year, the sleepy town of Dogodawa in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of the state was jolted as unidentified gunmen went haywire, killing 20 people in the process.
Those killed in that attack were mostly Moslem worshippers returning to their houses in the early hours.
