Horror in Kogi: Gunmen attack community, kill 19 at night

.Bello directs security agencies to fish out perpetrators

.28 houses, vehicles razed by attackers-Police

Gunmen have killed no fewer than 19 people in Tawari community in the Kogi Local Government Area of Kogi State, burning buildings, including the palace of the king of the community.

The Public Relations Officer of the Kogi State Police Command, Williams Anya, confirmed the development in Lokoja on Friday.

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He said that a police assessment team has visited the community and that many buildings including places of worship were burnt by the attackers.

Tawari community is a few kilometres off Gegu Town along the Lokoja-Abuja highway.

A resident of Tawari community, Mrs. Comfort Solomon, who survived the attack, revealed that the gunmen numbering about 100 invaded the community late on Thursday.

She said the gunmen came in their numbers on motorcycles and descended on the village, killing and burning buildings until the early hours of Friday.

Solomon said that many places of worship, including the palace of the Akuma of Tawari were burnt down by the invaders.

”The gunmen were up to 100 in number. They came into the community with motorcycles around 11:15 pm when villagers were sleeping.

“They entered selected houses, packed foodstuff and motorcycles and burnt selected houses, including homes of clerics.

”They killed more than 15 men. The attackers were communicating with each other in Hausa language,” Solomon stated, while weeping profusely.

Similarly, an indigene of the town, Mrs. Rita Nuhu, who resides in Minna, Niger State, confirmed to journalists that her father’s house was burnt during the attack.

”My people have been calling me from home that my father’s house was burnt down by the attackers. My mother and her sister were ordered out of the house after which the house was set ablaze, while about 15 men were killed.

Nuhu said that latest information she got from her village was that the death toll would rise.

”We are calling on security agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice. We appeal to the federal and state governments to come to our aid,” she pleaded.

The monarch of Tawari, Chief Idris Yusuf, confirmed the incident, saying it is the first time the community is experiencing such an attack.

“This is the first time we are witnessing such deadly attack in our community. Our community has been very peaceful,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has directed security agencies in the state to fish out perpetrators of Tawari attack for justice.

In a statement by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Onogwu Muhammed, in Lokoja on Friday, the governor said the security agencies should swing into action and ensure that those who carried out the dastardly act face the law.

The governor, who condemned the attack and warned that anyone nursing the ambition of causing crisis in the state would have himself or herself to blamed, assured that his administration would do everything possible to protect life and property of the people of the state.

He, therefore, urged the people to be calm and law abiding, assuring them that his administration was determined to flush out bandits and criminals out of the state.

Meanwhile, the state police command has disclosed that about 28 houses and vehicles were razed by the attackers in Tawari community located in Kogi Local Government Area of the state among other destruction.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the command, DSP Williams Anya, disclosed this in an interview.

Anya, who also disclosed that some lives were lost during the attack, said the Commissioner of Police, Ede Ayuba Ekpeji, has visited the community for on the spot assessment.

He also said that the commissioner of police has deployed special police force and police tactical squad, led by a deputy commissioner of police to immediately unravel those behind the heinous act with a view to bringing them to book.

Tawari community which is about 30 minutes drive from Gegu Town on Lokoja-Abuja Road in Kogi Local Government Area came under heavy attack by unknown gunmen on Thursday night.