Gunmen kill district head, inspector, 32 others in Minna

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.
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 terrorissing 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.

we also gathered that besides the loss of lives, many houses were  set on fire, with scores of people, mostly women and kids, injured.
With the development, many families within the villages in the affected local government have now been left homeless.
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 had been having a running battle with Fulani cattle rustlers in the area.
Just three weeks ago, the military posted to the area arrested some cattle rustlers 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 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.