Children of Birnin Gwari during the last attack on the area
Security sources confirmed that five persons died in yesterday’s armed assault on the hapless residents of Goron-Dutshe in Birnin-Gwari local government area of Kaduna State. The same sources said some 18 residents of the area sustained grave injuries. One of our sources said the casualty figure was likely to rise sharply as many people have been reported missing.
An attack by heavily armed but unidentified assailants was in progress. This morning, a resident told a correspondent of this website that it took more than three hours before Nigerian security operatives arrived at the besieged town. “We were at the mercy of the attackers for hours,” said the source, adding, “What kind of country are we living in?”
It was also learnt that three tanker trucks loaded with escapees from Goron-Dutshe, most of them women and children, arrived in Birnin-Gwari. Our correspondent indicated that the escapees numbered more than 150. He added that the escapees, who looked haggard and exhausted, took refuge inside the huge compound of the Emir of Birnin-Gwari.
Contacted by a citizen reporter, Idris Musa Alhassan, the chairman of the Birnin-Gwari local government area, said he and his officials were monitoring the situation and awaiting reports from security agents and vigilantes dispatched last night to the troubled area.
One of the escapees is Abubakar, the district head of Goron-Dutshe. Speaking to our correspondent from inside the emir’s palace in Birnin-Gwari, Mr. Abubakar described the attack as terrifying. He said many innocent people were killed and maimed by the armed bandits who wielded machetes. He also stated that half of Goron-Dutshe town was completely burnt.
Our correspondent attempted to take pictures of the refugees, but was prevented from doing so by palace guards who said they were acting on the instructions of the local government chairman.
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