By Ankeli Emmanuel (In Sokoto State)
Suspected bandits in the evening of Sunday stormed a market in Goronyo local government area of Sokoto State, killing scores of people.
The bandits according to the local people, came in their large numbers using motorcycles and opened fire at any object on sight in the market. "This happened when people were already preparing to return to their homes", a source said.
Though, there are conflicting reports on the total number of persons killed by the bandits. However, some that escaped by the whiskers said, they suspected that no fewer than 80 persons must have been killed by the killer bandits.
One of the locals who claimed to have lost over four relatives said it was not only a gory sight but also pathetically disturbing.
"As I am talking to you now, most of our people have run away from Goronyo to take refuge in the metropolis. All our villages are not safe. We have been living in perpetual fear.
"These brutal bandits come at will, kill our loved ones. Rustle our cows, cart away our foodstuffs, rape and whisk away our women and girls uninterrupted".
Confirming the incident when the 20th Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya, paid a courtesy call on the Sokoto Government House, governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, said the Army operation in Zamfara state has worsened the security situation in Sokoto lately.
Tambuwal who noted that people were killed in their large numbers when bandits struck on Sunday, appealed to the COAS to reinforce security presence in the State.
At the time of filing this report, the State Police Command spokesperson, ASP Abubakar Sadiq, could not pick his call nor respond to a text message sent to him in respect of the development. NNL.
