A total of 29 people were killed in a new bandit attack on Runji Village in Kaduna State’s Zangon Kataf Local Government Area.
The attack happened around 10 p.m. on Saturday night, just three days after bandits killed eight people in the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area’s Atak’Njei community.
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan who confirmed the latest incident in a statement, said that several houses in the community were burnt down while some residents were injured by the attackers.
He also disclosed that troops of the Nigerian military had a fierce encounter with the bandits and are still in the general area to maintain law and order.
On his part, the National President of Atyap Community Development Association, Sam Timbuwak told Channels Television that some of the bandits were equally killed by soldiers and some vigilantes who responded promptly to the area and engaged the criminals in a gun battle, adding that the casualty figure would have been higher if not for the intervention of soldiers.
Meanwhile, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has condemned the killings, describing them as unacceptable and unjustifiable.
The governor condoled the families that lost their loved ones and prayed for the repose of the soul of the victims’ souls as well as the speedy recovery of the injured.