Gunmen have killed no
fewer than 19 people in Tawari community in the Kogi Local Government Area of
Kogi State, burning buildings, including the palace of the king of the
community. The Public Relations Officer of the Kogi State Police Command, Mr
Williams Anya, confirmed the development in an interview with the News Agency
of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja on Friday.
He said that a police assessment team had
visited the community and that many buildings, including places of worship had
been burnt. Tawari community is a few kilometres off Gegu town along the
Lokoja-Abuja highway.
A resident of Tawari community, Mrs Comfort
Solomon, who survived the attack, told NAN that the gunmen, numbering about 100
invaded the community late on Thursday. She said the gunmen came in their
numbers on motorcycles and descended on the village, killing and burning
buildings until the early hours of Friday. Solomon said that many places of
worship, including the palace of the Akuma of Tawari were burnt down by the
invaders. ”The gunmen were up to 100 in number. They came into the community
with motorcycles around 11:15 p.m. when villagers were sleeping. “They entered
selected houses, packed foodstuff and motorcycles and burnt selected houses,
including homes of clerics. ”They killed more than 15 men. The attackers were communicating
with each other in Hausa language,” Solomon stated, weeping profusely.
Similarly, a NAN correspondent in Minna, Niger, Mrs Rita Nuhu, an indigene of
Tawari, who also spoke to NAN on telephone on the development, said that her
father’s house was completely burnt down during the attack. ”My people have
been calling me from home that my father’s house was burnt down by the
attackers. “My mother and her sister were ordered out of the house after which
the house was set ablaze, while about 15 men were killed. Nuhu told NAN that
latest information she got from her village was that the death toll would rise.
”We are calling on security agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice. We
appeal to the federal and state governments to come to our aid,” she pleaded.
The king of Tawari, Chief Idris Yusuf, who also spoke to NAN on telephone,
confirmed the incident, saying it was the first time the community was
experiencing such attack. “This is the first time we are witnessing such deadly
attack in our community. Our community has been very peaceful. Yusuf, who is
the Aguma of Tawari, said that he would provide details on the development as
he was busy attending to sympathisers.
Source: Vanguard News Nigeria