Zamfara, northwestern Nigeria —A Friday morning of sorrow struck Yantodon Daji village of Tsafe Local Government on Sep 26, where Muslim worshippers were killed, including the cleric leading a congregation at a mosque in the early hours, were attacked and killed.
The victims, namely Sale Dangero, 75; Mamman Yaro, 72; Malam Lawali Bataribas, 67; Malam Jafaru, a retired ASP, 68; and Malam Safiyanu, 55, were gruesomely killed by the gang of terror kingpin Bakin Malam and his lieutenants.
In the attack, several others escaped, sustaining life-threatening injuries from the gunshot, while about three persons, simply identified as Danyaye Alh Gambo, Malam Basiru and Ibrahim Bello, were confirmed to have been kidnapped and are currently held captive.
However, police authorities in the state described the attack as an attention-seeking pattern by the terror group to gain public conversation and impose more fears on citizens.
CP Maikaba stated that “We believe the bandits deployed this method of operation just to draw the attention of the public. They have witnessed the reactions of the public when a mosque was attacked in the Malumfashi local government area of Katsina state, and that is why they did it here in Zamfara,” he said.
“They invaded the mosque when worshippers were conducting morning prayer and started shooting sporadically, thereby killing the Imam and four other people.
“They also abducted three persons and took them to an unknown destination.
“However, it was traced further, and it was confirmed that the bandits’ kingpin, Bakin Malam, and his loyalists of the Makera axis were responsible for this attack.
