Mask-wearing gunmen on Wednesday night opened fire on traders in Maro Market, under Kufana district in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State killing seven people.
It was learnt that one of the seven victims was a woman and the incident, which occurred around 7:30pm, left 14 people with various gunshot wounds.
A source close to the District Head of Kufana confirmed the incident, saying the attack had occurred while the traders were preparing to close for the day.
He said the attackers had invaded the market in a Gulf vehicle and shot sporadically at the traders adding that, “the attackers went there in their vehicle, alighted and shot sporadically at the traders without provocation then went back to their vehicle and drove away.”
The source also explained that the gunmen wore black and that the incident lasted for less than 10 minutes. He said the Council Chairman, Cafra Caino and the District Head of Kufana, Titus Dauda had visited the area to commiserate with the people.
“We just buried all the victims today (Thursday), one of them happened to be my uncle’s daughter. The remaining six victims were male.
Fourteen persons sustained gunshot wounds and are now receiving treatment in the hospital. The attackers did not take anything from the traders after the attack,” he said.
When contacted, the Kaduna State police spokesman, ASP Muhammad Jalige, said that he would get the details of the attack and revert back, but hours later, he did not respond to phone calls put through to his phone.
The attack occurred a day after bandits stormed Bakali village in Fatika District of Giwa LGA in the state and killed 21 people including 16 members of the same family and five members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF).
Southern Kaduna residents- which is predominantly Christian, have cried out in protest to the Kaduna state El-Rufai led government over these merciless and casual killings, destruction of their properties and lands. They live in constant fear of what disaster ma occur next.
The security personnel and government, they say, are yet to put tangible measures in place to curb these barbaric acts, some of the residents said.