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No fewer than 35 persons,  including the district head of Allawa, his brother and a police Inspector, were killed in a  midnight raid in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger state by unknown gunmen on Tuesday. The incidence is one of several that has become the bane of the state in recent times. However, this new one is far ahead of the other happenings ever experience by the state. The police during a chat with newsmen on the issue however claimed they are on top of the situation.

Dangerous weapons such as  machine guns were freely used by the invaders. Unconfirmed sources said the gunmen could either be Fulani herdsmen who had been terrorising the area in the past or members of the dreaded  Boko Haram sect who escaped from the Sambisa forest after a fierce battle with the military recently. But many more fingers are being pointed in direction of the Fulani herdsmen by the locals, who said this is not the first time they would be perpetrating such act and their activities had been recorded across the state.

It was also gathered that besides the loss of lives recorded in the wake of the incidence, many houses were  set on fire by the bloodletting invaders across the village, with scores of people, mostly women and kids, injured. The police stated that the wounded had been conveyed to the hospital where they are being treated for various injuries.

With the development, many families within the villages in the affected local government have now been left homeless. Many of them are also left to mourn their departed ones. The fierce battle, it was gathered, lasted for about two hours. The immediate cause of the invasion could not be immediately ascertained at  press time yesterday except for the fact that the military in the area had in the past few months been having a running battle with Fulani cattle rustlers in the area and this is suspected to be the foundational cause of the problem.

Just three weeks ago, the military posted to the area arrested some cattle rustlers for various misconducts with no fewer than 184 cows and 83 sheep handed over to Chairman of Munyan Local Government Area, Alhaji Abdulkadir Bida, for further investigation and possible prosecution.

Contacted, Niger State Police Public Relations Officer , ASP Bala Elikana, confirmed the incident but could not ascertain the exact number of those killed. He said the Police had stepped into the matter to unravel the cause and the number of those who lost their lives. He said urgent actions will be taken to get to the root of the problem in the shortest time possible.

He said already, the state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Marafa, had directed the Police Area Commander in Minna and Divisional Police Officer at Kagara to visit the   communities affected for more investigations and to know further steps to be taken. The police claimed they were already on the look out for possible culprits and would make their investigation outcomes known to the public as soon as possible.