Four NSCDC personnel, six others killed as gunmen attack Niger community

Adelowo Oladipo with Agency report AUTHORITIES of the Niger State Police command, on Monday disclosed that four personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and six other people were killed when gunmen attacked Galkogo community in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Monday- Bala Kuryas, confirmed the killing during a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna. Kuryas explained that the gunmen rode to the community around 1.00 am on motorcycles, burnt down eight houses and a building under renovation, belonging to Joint Security Task Force (JTF), stressing that a detachment of police tactical squad and the military personnel had been deployed to the area to track the criminals.

According to him, “we appeal to residents in the state to assist the security personnel deployed to the area with reliable information that could help in apprehending the criminals.

We are all out to deal with any person or group of people undermining the peaceful atmosphere of Niger State,” he warned. Earlier, the chairman of Shiroro Local Government Area, Malam Suleiman Chukuba, told NAN that those injured in the attack were receiving treatment at a government facility in Minna.

But, the Concerned Shiroro Youths of Niger State maintained that 14 persons were gruesomely murdered, while 15 others were kidnapped during the attack on Galkogo communityt. In a press statement by its co-convener, Malam Sani Abubakar Ibrahim Koki, the group stated that “the hydraheaded, venomous, murderous and heartless terrorists heavily armed with assorted sophisticated and dangerous weapons had earlier on Sunday afternoon stormed a nearby Galape Village, where they abducted unspecified numbers of people and thereafter proceeded to Galadima Kogo that is almost deserted and started burning houses while simultaneously shooting sporadically into the air.”

Koki noted that of recent, the terrorists had been on the rampage in the whole Lakpma axis of Shiroro local government wreaking havoc on unsuspecting victims.

They invaded Makuba Community, Bassa/Kukoki Ward, Shiroro local government area and killed one person while kidnapping no fewer than 15. Reacting to the incident, the Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, who condemned the attack, said “as a government, we are determined not to hands up to these dare-devil terrorists. Niger State is actively supporting the Federal Government- led efforts to overcome the menace of these heartless terrorists.”