• As LP Reps candidate escapes assassination in state
From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Tragedy struck on Friday night, as unknown gunmen invaded Gure village in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing two persons.
This was even as the Labour Party’s House of Representatives candidate for Lere Federal constituency in the state, Suleiman Tambaya, escaped an assassination attempt same day.
It was gathered that the gunmen attacked the residence of the House of Reps candidate in the village on Friday at about 10:00pm while he was away at a political meeting in Kaduna, the state capital.
This was coming barely three months after gunmen killed the party’s women leader, Mrs. Victoria Chimtex, in her resident in Kaura Local Government Area of the state in November, 2022.
Narrating his ordeal to reporters on Saturday, Tambaya said but for divine intervention and the prompt response from the members of the community and local vigilantes, it would have been a “different story by now.”
He also said the police in Lere responded to the distressed call.
Tambaya said: “I was planning to go home on Friday, but I spoke to our governorship candidate and he asked me to come and see him. That was when I diverted and went to Kaduna.
“At about 10:00pm (Friday), some seven armed men came to my house in the village (Gure) asking for my whereabouts; they said I was supposed to be home.
“Some young men in my house were able to escape and raised the alarm; members of the community came and the vigilante too came out and confronted them. But unfortunately in the process, they (gunmen) killed two of our boys.
“You know the community has a vigilante team; and immediately they responded, but in the process, the gunmen shot two of our boys. One of the boys died on the spot while the other one died in the hospital.
“We reported the case to the Divisional Police Officer and he promptly mobilised personnel to the scene of the incident.”
There was no official confirmation from either the state police command or the state government about the time of filing this report.