From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Some of the bandits terrorising Kaduna State on Thursday allegedly attacked farmers at a village called Rafin Sarki in Giwa local government area of Kaduna State, killing 12 farmers and injuring three others.
Hitherto, several towns and villages in the local governments have been under severe bloody and destructive attacks by the ‘bush boys’ until recently when security agents began an aggressive onslaught against them.
According to local intel, this was the first time the defenseless people of Rafin Sarki would be having their share of the deplorable security situation in the land as there is no security presence in the area which gave the criminal elements the gut to attack the people at will.
Confirming the development to The Sun Newspapers on Friday, Hon. Sambokhan Giwa said trouble started when bandits demanded levies from farmers who were harvesting their farm produce.
According to him, The farmers resisted which provoked the measuring armed bandits and by the time the dust settled, 12 farmers were left dead and three others injured.
“It is true. They attacked a village called Rafin Sarki not in Giwa town but in Giwa local government. They killed 12 people and injured three others.
“The people of the area were clearing their farm produce when the bandits came to collect money from them so they can ‘allow’ them to finish their farming activities.
“But the farmers refused to give them the money they demanded. From there, the thing started”, he said.
He further added that the three survivors of the attack are receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital while the bodies of the victims would be laid to rest Friday morning.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Kaduna State Police Command nor the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs has made any official statement on this unfortunate development.
Kaduna is one of the favoured climatic condition states in Nigeria with well over 70 percent of its about 10 million people (2006 population projection) into agricultural value chains – growing and processing maize, millet, sorghum, ginger, chili, soya beans among others for local and international markets.