From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The terrorists have continued to wreak havoc in Kaduna State with the killing of 20 residents, while no fewer than 50 others were abducted in the latest attacks in the State in the last 72 hours.
Daily Sun gathered that over 20,000 residents of Damari community in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna state have been displaced by terrorists in the latest attacks, so far.
Reports said the displaced persons included women and children, just as a pregnant woman, said to be fleeing from the attack, fell down, gave birth to a baby boy and died on the spot, along with the new baby.
The Chairman of the Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressives Union (BEPU), Ishaq Usman Kasai, expressed sadness over the development in a statement yesterday. Apart from abducting and killing the villagers, Kasai said the terrorists also looted property, food barns, livestock and set many buildings and vehicles on fire. This was contained in a statement made available to reporters by the Chairman, Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressives Union (BEPU), Alhaji Ishaq Usman Kasai. As of the time of this report, there was no official statement from either the police authority or State government on the incident.
The BEPU statement reads: “Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressives’ Union (BEPU) has been, in the last five days, alerting the relevant authorities and the general public on the cruel, wicked and heartless attacks by terrorists in Damari, following the withdrawal of Ansaru (a splinter group of Boko Haram ) from the area.
“The sad event in the last 72 hours in Damari town of Kazage Ward, in the Eastern part of Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area, Kaduna State, has reached a catastrophic situation. As of Saturday, bandits encircled Damari and abducted about 50 people shortly before and after troops from the military field-base from Dogon-Dawa went to the town and escorted some remnants of the residents, who were willing to move to comfort zones in neighbouring communities and even to as far away Zaria.
“The most worrisome situation is where a pregnant woman was running away along with her colleagues and was left away by the fleeing groups, where she fell down and delivered a baby boy, but, unfortunately, both the mother and the baby lost their lives instantly.
“Damari is considered as the largest town in the entire Eastern part of Birnin-Gwari, and with this worrisome development, about 20 thousands people, including women and children are rendered internally displaced (IDPs).
“Even today, the bandits returned to the town unchallenged, burnt a vehicle, kidnapped scores, intercepted and maltreated people, a serious development that reflects the level of serious insecurity situation facing our community.
“These calamitous atrocities of armed bandits have made Damari, the agrarian community that yearly produced over 600 tonnes of maize grains, abandon their ancestral homes and farms for safety.
“BEPU is highly concerned about the ugly situation of the citizens of Birnin-Gwari LGA, particularly those in the local communities, whereby despite all efforts to draw the attention of higher authorities for action, as entails in their constitutional responsibilities, has failed.
BEPU is deeply sympathising with all the people of Damari over this trials and assures them of continued efforts towards supporting them in all possible ways, especially in humanitarian emergency needs, and would never relent on advancing engagement with government, whose major and primary responsibility, as enshrined in the Constitution, is the protection of lives and property of the citizenry, to do the needful.”