Gunmen kill 36 in Kaduna and Kastina.

In Kaduna and Katsina states, gunmen have killed no less than 36 people.

While 17 people were killed by gunmen in the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area, LGA, in southern Kaduna State, another 19 villager deaths and 15 injuries occurred on Saturday after a fight between vigilantes and terrorists in the Kankara towns of Katsina State.

The attack in Southern Kaduna perpetrated by several gunmen who were said to have stormed Zangon Kataf LGA at about 7:00 pm on Saturday led to the death of no fewer than 17 persons.

One of the LGAs in the southern section of Kaduna, Zangon Kataf, has experienced killings over the years as a result of a variety of issues, including farmer-herder clashes.

Jonathan Asake, the LP’s nominee for governor, is a native of the LGA.

Via phone on Sunday, one of the locals reported that “The gunmen in their considerable numbers came at around 7:00 pm yesterday (Saturday)”.

“As I speak to you, we have found 17 corpses thus far.”

The Zangon Kataf LGA administration enforced a 24-hour curfew following the killing.

The media aide to the LGA Chairman, Yabo Ephraim, said the curfew would enable the army to restore peace and order in the affected areas, saying in a terse statement, “A 24-hour curfew has been imposed on Ungwan Juju, Mabuhu, Ungwan Wakili and Zangon Urban with immediate effect. This is to allow men of the Nigerian army to restore peace on that axis.”

Spokesman of Kaduna State Police Command, Muhammad Jalige, who confirmed the attack, among others, said “From the briefing I received from the Area Commander, trouble started a couple of days ago, when a boy rearing cattle was murdered. We have been trying to manage the situation while investigating the sad occurrence before trouble broke out.

“A joint security team will be combing the bushes in the area Sunday afternoon (yesterday) to search for bodies if there are any. They will also apprehend the suspects responsible for the killings.

“We are on top of the situation and all the hoodlums responsible would be rounded up. But for the timely intervention of joint security personnel coordinated by the Area Commander, the terrorists would have had a field day.”

“Repelling the hoodlums was a tedious task for our security agencies, but they were successful as the terrorists scampered away from the scene.”

Asake, who had earlier asked for calm in Zangon Kataf LGA, reacted by expressing outrage over the incident, expressing sympathy to the families of the deceased, and praying for the repose of the victims’ souls.

His media assistant James Swam, among others, encouraged the Kaduna State government and security organizations to see to it that the culprits were brought to justice in order to serve as a deterrence to other criminal elements in society and prevent retaliation in other areas.