Tension as one dies in youth, gunmen clash

 

Umbrella body of Muslims in the 19 northern states and Abuja, Jama’atu Nasril Islam,  on Sunday in Kaduna asked the Muslims in the area  to be vigilant following Friday’s    suicide  bomb attack on a mosque in Maiduguri, Borno State where the Shehu of Borno and the Deputy Governor of the state narrowly escaped death.

 

The call  came on the heels  of  an attack on Mahuta village on the outskirt of Kaduna on Saturday  by suspected Boko Haram members. One person was reportedly killed in the attack.

The Police  Public Relations Officer in Kaduna, Aminu Lawan,   who confirmed the incident, said two gunmen   were  apprehended in connection with the attack  by  residents.

An eyewitness  told our correspondent that the gunmen had gained access to the residence of the village head but  the monarch jumped the fence and escaped.

The quick intervention of youths of the area was said to have saved the situation as the youths confronted the  gunmen and in the process  seven of the residents were shot.

The statement  by  its  Secretary-General,  Dr. Khalid Aliyu, read in part,  “In the light of what ensued, we call on all Muslims to be vigilant and be more fervent in prayers for peace and harmony to return to Borno the land of Qur’an memorisers and by extension Nigerian.”

Meanwhile, residents of the Gonin-gora community in the southern part of Kaduna on Sunday  dismissed called by the Emir of Katsina on the Federal Government  to demolish the settlement following the reprisals  in the wake of the violence in  the state last month.

However, spokesman for  the residents, Mr. Sunday  Ibrahim,  at a  news conference insisted that the call  was uncalled for.

He said, “Gonin-Gora is a mini-Nigeria with people of different Nigerian ethnic nationalities such as the Gbagyi, the Igbo, the Igala, the Yoruba, the Tiv, the Nupe, the Atyap, the Efik, the Ijaw, the Calabari, the Ham-Jaba people, the Itsekiri, the Uroboh, the Idoma, the Bachama, the Adara people, the Bajju, the Zurus and infact the Hausa Fulani Christians.”

Source:- The Punch