We lost over 30 people to Sokoto market bandit attacks, Gov Tambuwal says as Chief of Army Staff visits
By OUR REPORTER
Updates, on the suspected bandit attack on Goronyo market in Goronyo Local Government Area in the Eastern Senatorial District of Sokoto State, have it that no fewer than 30 people were killed in the sad incident.
Sources in the village reportedly said the assailants attacked the market in large number night of Sunday 18 October, 2021, shooting sporadically and killing several persons.
Reacting to the attack on Monday, Governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, had reportedly said about 30 people were feared dead in the market in Goronyo township, which is the headquarters of Goronyo Local Government Area.
He disclosed this when the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya, paid him a courtesy visit.
“Between last night, yesterday evening till this morning, we were greeted with a very dastardly attack in Goronyo Local Government, particularly Goronyo Township, where scores and tens have lost their lives and still counting. We’re not sure of the figure. But it is 30 something,” he said.
The governor noted that the Army chief has “come at a very trying moment for the Army and the Nigerian nation. We’re faced and bedevilled by many security challenges in our own area here, particularly banditry, kidnapping and other associated crimes.”
He called for synergy between the Army and other security operatives in the state while requesting for the presence of more forces in the state and the deployment of more resources.
Governor Tambuwal also pledged that his administration will continue to support the Army and other security operatives.
The latest attack is the third time in two weeks that bandits have attacked a village market in Sokoto State.
Earlier this month, 20 persons were killed at Ungwan Lalle market in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of the state.
For several weeks, troops have been conducting air and ground operations on bandit camps in neighbouring Zamfara State, where authorities have shutdown telecom services to disrupt communication among the gangs.
Bandits fleeing the military operations in Zamfara are believed to have set up camps in the Sabon Birni district in Sokoto State from where they carryout their criminal raid on villages.
The influx of bandits from neighbouring Zamfara State prompted authorities in Sokoto to suspend weekly markets and shutdown telecom towers in areas on the border with Zamfara, including Sabon Birni.
Last month, 17 Nigerian security personnel were killed when gunmen raided their base in Sabon Birni’s Dama village, which the military blamed on ISWAP-aligned terrorists, The DEFENDER gathered.
