20110407
This Day

No fewer than 20 people have been feared killed and 20 houses destroyed during an attack on Kurum village in Bogoro Local government Area of Bauchi state.

A reliable source told newsmen that the attackers, who besieged the village on Wednesday night, killed the victims and destroyed their houses.

The source said while 17 people were killed instantly during the attack, three other victims who sustained serious injuries and hospitalized, later died.

However,the Police in Bauchi state confirmed that 16 people were killed and 20 houses burnt in Kurum village of Bogoro Local Government Area of Bauchi State during a night attack by some gunmen on Wednesday.

The state Commissioner of Police (CP) , Mr John Abakasanga, who disclosed this during an interview with newsmen in Bauchi although said the cause of the attack was not known, however added that the raid was one of the serial raids in the past months.

He said the killers had adopted a hit-and-run mode of the raid in the area in the past, adding that the police was investigating the cause of the attack which had left several people dead and many property destroyed.

Asked to confirm the death of three additional persons who were injured, the CP said it might have been a later development.

Mr Bukata Zhadi, Secretary of Zaar Elders and Traditional Rulers in Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa Local Government Areas, on his part , said the casualty included a pastor's wife and her three children.

Zhadi who said several others were in critical condition in various hospitals in Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa Local Government Areas

blamed the recurrent crisis on the state government's failure to contain the problem.

He pointed out that the serial attacks were in fulfillment of Gov. Isa Yuguda's recent statement that he would demolish Tafawa Balewa should the crisis continue.

Since crisis erupted in Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Local Government Areas on Jan. 27, there have been series of attack, mostly at night in communities of both Local Governments, with many people being killed while several houses were destroyed.

Meanwhile, the state government has said it was aware of some individuals and groups who incite youths and hire mercenaries to perpetrate such acts.

A statement signed by the Permanent Secretary in charge of Special services, Government House , Bauchi, Alhaji Abdu Ilelah, said government would deal with such individuals and groups.

According to him,"Government is also aware of some individuals and groups who have been inciting gullible youth and communities against one another and also bringing in mercenaries to attack villages and hamlets in the two Local Government Areas with the sole intention of spreading the killings of innocent lives and destroying property so that the state becomes ungovernable.

"Government is fully prepared to deal, this time around, ruthlessly with any person or groups with these evil and satanic intentions",he warned/ He added "While the residents of the two Local Government Areas forge ahead with peace process that will be everlasting, government will very soon satisfy their wishes and aspirations to facilitate the process.

"Such solutions include the realization of the wishes and aspirations of the Communities and the creation of Chiefdoms and Village Areas", the statement said.