 Fresh accounts coming from Kaduna state said today’s the attack on Dogo Dawa village near Birnin Gwari may be a reprisal attack by angry “armed robbery gang operating in the area” .But the police could not explain the attack:“some people are saying the attackers were Fulani herdsmen who were probably on reprisal attack but the question is, what reprisal attack?” the police commissioner said.Sources in the area however said the gang members may be angry that some the villagers dared to expose them to the police and other security agencies recently.This ,according to those conversant with the area may be why the gunmen went on a shooting spree killing on unsuspecting Muslims just as they finishing saying their prayers between 5.30am and 6.00amBut they did not start killing from the Mosque.One eyewitnesses who pleaded that his identity not be revealed told reporters: “this morning the criminals went to the house of the man they suspected to be responsible for identifying them, killed him and two of his children and cut the hand of his wife.“They also killed 17 other people in the village. Those people they killed were just coming from the early morning prayers.“I can confirm to you that it was not a robbery operation, it was the criminals who went for a reprisal attack because the people have been identifying them, ” the eye witness said. There were also unconfirmed reports that the attackers had earlier notified the community of the attack in protest against othe arrest of some of members of their gang.  “Based on this, the community set up a committee to help find out who were responsible and put an end to it,” one of the residents said, adding that, “the committee did a good job as they were able to identify some of those responsible for the robbery and other criminal activities in the area. “A former hakimi (village leader) in Dogo Dawa was in charge of the committee that was responsible for sanitizing the area and that is why in the last three months, there has been less incidents of robbery in the area as the people were able to identify the criminals and they were being eliminated silently one after the other.” Olufemi Adenaike ,Kaduna state Commissioner of Police, confirmed the incident but he could not confirm death toll and who were responsible.The commissioner said “some people are saying the attackers were Fulani herdsmen who were probably on reprisal attack but the question is, what reprisal attack? “So, my men have moved to the scene to get details of the incident. We could not get immediate information from the area because the network there is very poor but as soon as we get the details and number of people killed, we will let you know” the CP said on Sunday. Related Story: Kaduna:Gunmen Kill 20 Muslims leaving Mosque Near Birnin Gwari |
