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 fateful 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).
The hoodlums also shot Victoria’s husband in the leg and instantly rushed to an undisclosed medical facility where he was said to be receiving treatment.
However, 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 vigilante, 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 yesterday(Friday) but I spoke to our governorhsip candidate and he asked me to come and see him. That was when I diverted and came to Kaduna.
“At about 10:00pm(Friday), some seven armed men came to my house in the village(Gure) , asking about my whereabouts and that they said I am suppose to be home.
“Some young men in my house were able to escape and raised an alarm; members of the community came and the vigilante too came out and confronted them. But unfortunately along the process, they(gunmen) killed two of our boys.
“You know the community has 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 at the hospital.
“We reported the case to the Divisional Police Officer and he promptly mobilise personnel to the scene of the incident.”
There was no official confirmation from the either state police command or the state government as at the time of filing this report.