Gunmen Kill 5-year-old, 15 Others In Taraba, Bauchi

Gunmen, weekend, killed a five-year-old girl during an attack on Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSS),Yana in Shira Local Government Area of Bauchi State, with another set of bandits killing 15 people in Nyakwala village, in Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State.

The gunmen attacked the school and set the staff quarters, a school bus, the local government area conference hall and about 15 vehicles ablaze.

State Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), Mr. Haruna Mohammed, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who confirmed the incident said the attackers also burnt some telecommunication masts and attacked a branch of First Bank in the town, during which they destroyed the bank’s vault.

“There are 195 girls writing the Senior School Certificate Examination in the school but they were unharmed, they didn’t even know what happened,” Thisday quoted a security source as saying.

The source added that soldiers from Bauchi and Jigawa States ambushed the gunmen and recovered some motorcycles, locally-made bombs and a green Hilux van from them.

15 people were also killed in the attack on Nyakwala village, which came barely 24 hours after the state’s acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, visited Wukari and Ibi, which have witnessed a series of violent clashes in recent times.

The gunmen, who were said to have invaded Nyakwala in the early hours of yesterday, shot sporadically at the residents before setting most of the houses in the community ablaze.

Also at Bantaje, several people mostly passengers travelling for Easter celebrations, were killed by Fulani herdsmen who mounted a road block on the Wukari-Jalingo road thereby forcing other motorists travelling on the road to make a detour to avoid being caught in the trap of the herdsmen.

Among the victims was a man travelling with his family who was killed along with his children while his wife was abducted by the herdsmen who later allowed her to make calls to her relatives to inform them of their predicament.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Joseph Kwaji, who confirmed the attacks declined to give the casualty figures. [Thisday]