Showing posts with label Kaduna State. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kaduna State. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

11 killed in central Nigeria village attack

KADUNA, Nigeria, May 14 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 people were killed on Tuesday in an attack on a village in central north Nigeria, according to security sources.

Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen struck Zangang Village in Kaduna State. The raid also left several people missing and a number of others injured, who were taken to the Jos University Teaching Hospital for treatment, the sources told Xinhua.

Many houses including the residence of the district head were razed.

A Xinhua reporter in the state said the attack followed an assault on Sunday by gunmen who wore mask and rode on bikes. The attackers were averted by soldiers.

Last month, the village was raided by suspected herdsmen who killed 19 people and injured several others.

The state government has condemned the attacks, saying measures would be taken to forestall future occurrence.

State Governor Mukhtar Yero said the state is working out a possible solution to the problem of the area.

from XINHUA
2013-05-15 04:40:57

Enhanced by Zemanta

Friday, February 1, 2013

Gunmen Bomb Police Station, Banks in Northern Nigeria

ABUJA — Gunmen on motorcycles bombed a police station and as many as three banks in Kaduna State in Nigeria on Wednesday night. The attacks come two days after a man claiming to be a leader of Islamist militants known as Boko Haram announced a unilateral truce.  

On a scratchy phone line from the town of Birnin Gwari, Abdulkadir Muhammed, a secondary school teacher, described the scene. 

He said gunmen blew into town on motorcycles, firing their weapons and tossing bombs.  He said the police station was flattened and as many as three banks, which were closed at the time, were bombed and robbed.

Officially the gunmen are ‘bandits’ but Sheihu Sani, the head of the Civil Rights Congress, a human rights organization in northern Nigeria, says the attacks resemble the work of Boko Haram.

“The attack on the police stations in Birnin Gwari and the attacks on banks follows the same pattern of how the insurgents operate in the northern part of Nigeria," said Sani. "And this thing just happened yesterday.  It’s a clear indication that the so-called ceasefire that was announced in Borno State was actually a sham.”

On Monday, a purported Boko Haram commander, Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, announced that Boko Haram had declared a unilateral ceasefire to pave the way for peace talks.  Sani says it is not clear that Abdulazeez has the authority to speak for the group.

“First of all, this same Abdulazeez made a similar claim about three to four months ago of a ceasefire and after the proclamation of that ceasefire a retired military general was killed and also a church was bombed in Kaduna," said Sani. "What is very clear is that a ceasefire that is binding, effective and credible should be announced by the leader of the group.”

Boko Haram began violent operations in 2009, and it has killed an estimated 3,000 people in attacks on churches, schools, government and newspaper offices, security forces, markets and the communications infrastructure. 

Human rights groups have accused security forces of killing hundreds more in operations to subdue the militant group.  Most of the violence has been in northern Nigeria. 

Kaduna is in a region of the north that is also called the “middle belt” because it divides Nigeria’s Muslim majority north from the Christian majority south.  Sectarian violence has long plagued the middle belt, including frequent church bombings and reprisal attacks.

Last October, 20 people were gunned down in the town of Birnin Gwari as they were leaving a mosque.

from VOA NEWS
by Heather Murdock
January 31, 2013

Enhanced by Zemanta

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Car bomb rocks church in Nigerian military barracks

(Reuters) - A car bomb was detonated at a church inside military barracks in Jaji in Nigeria's Kaduna state on Sunday, two military sources said.

"A car drove into the church premises ... then detonated the bomb," one of the military officers told Reuters, asking not to be named.

The National Emergency Agency confirmed there had been an explosion inside the barracks and said it was "likely at a worship centre".

Kaduna state in northern Nigeria has been the target of several bomb attacks this year, including on churches. Some have been claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram, a group which has killed hundreds in an insurgency this year.

from REUTERS
(Reporting by Garba Mohammed and Isaac Abrak; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Alison Williams)
KADUNA, Nigeria | Sun Nov 25, 2012 8:22am EST

Enhanced by Zemanta

Sunday, October 28, 2012

At least 4 killed, several injured in northern Nigeria church explosion

KADUNA, Nigeria, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least four persons have been killed and several others were injured in an early morning explosion which rocked St. Rita Catholic Church in Malaila area of northern Nigeria's Kaduna State during Sunday mass, a top Red cross official told Xinhua on Sunday.

Although the zonal coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the northwest region of Nigeria Musa Ilalah had told Xinhua on phone that casualty figures were yet to be established, a Red cross senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that four people have, so far, been confirmed dead.

"Three people, including the suicide bomber, died at the explosion site while one other person was confirmed dead in one of the hospitals where the victims were rushed to. Several people including the Reverend Fathers of the church were seriously injured and parts of the church were seriously damaged," said the Red Cross official.

The official casualty figures might increase before the end of the day as rescue officials have been shuttling between the explosion site and the health facilities were the victims are being treated, the official added.

"A number of casualties have been evacuated to hospitals in the state by our officials," said the national spokesperson of NEMA Yushau Shuaib who earlier confirmed the incident in a text message.

According to the NEMA official, the Sunday morning explosion occurred when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into the church gate.

Security operatives have also been deployed to cordon-off the area, Shuaib added.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the Sunday morning bomb attack which occurred barely two days after Muslims in the country and worldwide celebrated the annual Eid-el-Kabir festival. However, similar attacks had been perpetrated by the Islamic Boko Haram sect which operates mainly in northern and central parts of Nigeria.

Over 1,500 people have been killed since 2009 when the sect launched its violent attacks in northern Nigeria, according to the latest report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW).


from XINHUA
Editor: Chen Zhi
2012-10-28 20:00:38

Enhanced by Zemanta

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Gunmen kill 20 at mosque in northern Nigeria

KADUNA (Reuters) - Gunmen opened fire on Muslim worshippers as they were leaving a mosque in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least 20 people, a local official said.

The attack happened in a remote village called Dogo Dawa, in Kaduna state, said Abdullahi Muhammad, the traditional ruler and councillor of Birnin Gwari, a local government area next door to the village.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Like much of northern Nigeria, Kaduna is plagued by an insurgency led by radical Islamist sect Boko Haram. They usually attack security forces, government officials or Christians, but have hit Muslim clerics and mosques in the past, especially ones that do not follow their hardline brand of Islam.

Kaduna also lies close to Nigeria's volatile "Middle Belt", where Nigeria's mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south meet, and where tensions over land and ethnicity often erupt into violence.

But Abdulladhi said the attack was most likely carried out by a local criminal gang.

"We are suspecting a reprisal attack by gangs of armed robbers who lost some of their members after a recent exchange of fire with the villagers and the vigilantes," he said.

"The village had been terrorised by an armed group operating from camps in the forest. These armed men mostly attack villages and motorists along the busy Kaduna to Lagos highway."

The state police commissioner Olufemi Adenaike confirmed the incident, but said he could not yet confirm the death toll.

The Islamist insurgency in northern Nigeria and weapons flooding in from its neighbours on the threshold of the Sahara have aggravated levels of violence in the region. Armed robberies and local disputes degenerating into deadly shootouts are increasingly common across the impoverished north.

from REUTERS
Sun Oct 14, 2012 11:31am GMT

Enhanced by Zemanta

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Nigeria: Suicide Bombers Die While Heading For Kaduna Mosque

What could have possibly caused  another major havoc was yesterday averted when suicide bombers suspected to be heading to the famous Sultan Bello Mosque in Ungwa Sarki met their untimely death when the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) they were carrying exploded on them, killing two of the carriers with the third one is no where to be found.

According to an eyewitness, the bombers, who are three in number, rode on three different motorcycles heading to the Sultan Bello Mosque at Ungwan Sarki where thousands of Muslims assembled for the daily Ramadan Tafsir.

But the suspects could not beat the timing on the bombs, perhaps due to the series of security checkpoints along the route, thus they could not reach their alleged target before the bomb exploded.

The incident occurred at about 4pm at Abakpa directly opposite a bank and close to the NNPC Mega Station along Ali Akilu Road en-route Kawo.

WARNING! GRAPHIC IMAGE! (Photo: Leadership)
Bodies of two of the suspected bombers were shattered by the strong explosive while the third accomplice could not be seen when our correspondents visited the scene. Eye witnesses confirmed that the suicide bombers were three, but our correspondents only confirmed the presence of three motorcycles.

A combined team of security men immediately cordoned off the area while making efforts to evacuate the remains of the bombers in spite of the presence of the bees which prevented them for almost an hour.

Although details of the suicide bombers’ mission could not be ascertained, correspondents observed that the suspects could have targetted the Islamic scholar that often gives the Tafsir at the Sultan Bello Mosque, Sheik (Dr) Ahmad Abukakar Gumi.

The scholar had, in a series of sermons during the Tafsir sessions, condemned members of the actions of the Boko Haram sect, which he had consistently described as un-Islamic.

Consequently, the sect members were said to have threatened to attack the said scholar. This perhaps explains why security was beefed up around the residence of the cleric for fear of the unknown.

The remains of the suspected bombers were evacuated to a nearby hospital.

When contacted, the Commissioner of Police Kaduna State command Abubakar Muhammed Jinjiri, confirmed the death of two suspected suicide bombers, adding that the area had been condoned off.

“Two suspected bombers carrying explosives died when the explosives exploded on them.

“They were on motorcycles heading towards Kawo when they exploded along Ali Akilu road; no other casualty was recorded and no persons were injured,” he said.

from LEADERSHIP
Wed, 15/08/2012 - 1:58am | ISAIAH BENJAMIN and MIDAT JOSEPH
Enhanced by Zemanta

Saturday, March 17, 2012

10 killed, 5 injured in northern Nigeria overnight attacks

Deutsch: Politische Karte Nigerias (Bundesstaa...
Image via Wikipedia
KADUNA, Nigeria, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Ten people were killed and five others severely injured in three overnight attacks by gunmen in north west Nigeria's Kaduna State.

A witness, Sunday Amos, who claimed to have escaped death by the whiskers told Xinhua late on Friday that the suspected gunmen numbering 20 raided three villages in Chikun local government area.

He said a Christian cleric identified as Innocent Chukwuemeka Mari, in charge of the Assemblies of God Church, was among those killed in the attacks that lasted till the early hours of Friday. The gunmen also razed the church building before moving on to another village.

According to the witness, the attackers shot indiscriminately at the villagers and at the same time set many houses in the villages on fire as residents fled.

"The five injured persons during the raid had since been admitted at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, for treatment," he added.

State police spokesperson Aminu Lawan confirmed the incident to Xinhua, saying he was still awaiting details of the incident.

"We have deployed our officers in the troubled area," he said.
Enhanced by Zemanta

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Police officer killed in Nigeria twin blasts

Deutsch: Politische Karte Nigerias (Bundesstaa...
Image via Wikipedia
KADUNA, Nigeria, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Double explosions on Tuesday rocked northern Nigeria's Kaduna State, killing a policeman and injuring an unknown number of persons.

The dead policeman who was attached to the Anti-bomb Squad was part of the police team that raced to the scene after the first explosion occurred earlier.

Tuesday's explosions occurred barely a week after the militant Islamic sect, the Boko Haram, launched a suicide bombing attack on military formations in Kaduna.

The double explosions also took place barely 24 hours after a senior government official in an official car of the Kaduna State Government was shot by soldiers manning the gates to government House seat of the state governor.

The soldiers had mistaken the senior government official for a suicide bomber.

The dead policeman in Tuesday's explosions who was yet to be identified was said to be combing the vicinity of the first explosion close to the pedestrian bridge leading to the Sultan Bello Mosque for more explosives when he saw a polythene bag and in an attempt to verify the content, the object inside the bag exploded and tore him into shreds.

The first explosion had occurred at about 11:33 a.m local time close to the Angwan Sarki Market opposite the busy Kaduna State Transport Authority motor park, while the second explosion that killed the Anti bomb squad police officer went off at about 12:17 p.m local time close to the Sultan Bello Mosque still in Angwan Sarki in Kaduna North Local Government Area. A Xinhua reporter in the state said the explosions created panic amongst residents of the area who ran for dear lives to take refuge.

Traders at the nearby Angwan Sarki Market were forced to close their shops while schools and financial institutions around the area also shut down abruptly, he added. State police spokesperson Aminu Lawan confirmed the incident, saying the policeman whose identity he could not immediately confirm was killed while sweeping the scene of the first blast for more bombs.

The police spokesman however said investigations into the incident had already been launched by the police.

Meanwhile, a combined team of heavily armed policemen and soldiers has cordoned off the area, causing traffic jam.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Search this blog