One of the banks bombed during the attack.
ABOUT
100 armed robbers on Thursday unleashed terror on the residents of
Birnin-Gwari town, in the Brinin Gwari Council of Kaduna State,
killing three policemen in an operation that lasted two hours.
The robbers also razed a police station
and two banks in the area, according to the Kaduna State Police Command
Public Relations Officer, Aminu Lawan.
A resident of the area who spoke on condition of anonymity said the robbers struck in the early hours of Thursday.
“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.
“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.
The incident came barely 24 hours after
the Emir of Birnin Gwari, Alhaji Zubairu Jibril, raised the alarm that
armed robbers had taken over his domain.
The emir said the men of the underworld were in charged of affairs in the area.
Jibril spoke when he led other
traditional rulers, politicians and traders on a courtesy visit to the
Kaduna State Governor, Dr. Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, to make a formal
complaint about the activities of armed bandits in his domain.
He said the robbers raped wives of victims, and that over 7,000 heads of cattle were stolen by the bandits.
The Emir had said, “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.”
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.
A source told our correspondent that
the Thursday attack which occured at about 12 mid night and lasted
for about two hours left the police station in ruins.
PUNCH
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