Gunmen shoot, stab worshippers at a north Nigeria mosque, killing at least 20 people

Unknown gunmen have killed at least 20
people outside a mosque in Kaduna, north
central Nigeria.
Residents of
Dogo Dawa
said the
attackers
stormed the
village,
shooting
and
stabbing anyone in sight.
Most of those targeted were worshippers leaving
a mosque.
The men , who are to be identified, are
suspected to be armed robbers. Although no
group has claimed responsibilities for the
attack, it mirrors the style of the dreaded
Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
After attacking people leaving the Mosque, the
raiders moved to the house of a community
chief and killed him too.
State Commissioner for Information, Saidu
Adamu, said “a gang of robbers who have been
terrorizing the area are likely to have carried out
the attack”.
Reports say the gang had tried to attack the
village recently, but had been repelled by a
vigilante group. The armed bandits promised to
return as some of their men were felled by the
local vigilante group of the community.
A traditional ruler and councillor of Birnin Gwari
Local Government Area, Abdullahi Mohammed,
confirmed the bandit’s threat to revenge the
killing of their colleagues by the vigilante group.
“We are suspecting a reprisal attack by gangs of
armed robbers who lost some of their members
after a recent exchange of fire with the villagers
and the vigilantes,” he said.
“The village had been terrorized by an armed
group operating from camps in the forest. These
armed men mostly attack villages and motorists
along the busy Kaduna to Lagos highway.”
Community leaders said they had informed the
police that they had been warned, in writing, of
a revenge attack – but that police had done
nothing: