Eleven (11) persons have been confirmed killed by a group, popularly known as Yan Sakai in the Mammande weekly market in Gwadabawa local government area of Sokoto State.
Confirming the incident, the Police PPRO in the state, ASP Abubakar Sanusi, in a statement, said the Yan Sakai group which had been outlawed by the state government due to its alleged excesses raided the market on Thursday afternoon.
The statement explained that the perpetrators of the heinous act had been identified and apprehended by the police.
it was learned that many others sustained various degrees of injuries from gunshots and machete cuts by the attackers.
The injured persons were taken to the Orthopaedic hospital, Wamakko, and the State Specialist Hospital, Sokoto.
Reacting to the attack, the chairman of the local government, Aminu Aya explained that “the Yan Sakai came from the neighboring Goronyo Local Government Area but cannot ascertain whether they were residents of that area or not.”
He further explained that the Fulani are from the neighboring communities, stressing that they came to the market to buy food items, among other things.
The chairman said the incident occurred around 3 pm on Thursday when Yan Sakai identified and shot 15 Fulani on the spot.
He said that eleven of them died instantly, while four sustained fractures as a result of gunshot injuries they sustained.
He said, “As I speak, we have taken the injured to the Orthopaedic Hospital in Wamakko, while the 11 corpses have been deposited at the mortuary.”