Gunmen kill 20 in Kaduna

Gunmen, on Sunday morning, attacked residents of Dogo Dawa, a community in Kaduna State, killing at least 20 people, the BBC reports.

Residents said the attackers stormed the village in the early hours, shooting and stabbing anyone. Many of the victims were Muslims who had just come out from a mosque after their early morning prayers.

Though no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Information, Saidu Adamau, told the BBC that the attack could have been carried out by armed robbers.

A traditional ruler in neighbouring Birnin Gwari, Abdullahi Muhammad, also told Reuters that robbers could have carried out the attack.

“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 Kaduna killings is similar to that of Mubi, a community in Adamawa State, where over 40 people, mostly students, were killed by armed men with guns and machete about a fortnight ago.The perpetrators are yet to be identified or captured as the police say they are still investigating the crime; while the main suspects, the Boko Haram insurgent group, denied responsibility for the attack .