A group of gunmen have reportedly killed an Imam and 10 other persons at Mamande village in Gwadabawa local government of Sokoto State.
The assailants believed to be the outlawed vigilante group – Yan Sakai, stormed the community at about 3:30pm on Thursday.
It was gathered that majority of the victims were of Fulani extraction and had come from different settlements to purchase food and other essentials at the market when they were attacked.
The Yan Sakai were said to have stormed the market from Goronyo Local Government Area, attacking the victims whom they accused of aiding banditry.
A relative of the Imam, Abdullahi Riskuwa, said his brother was killed unjustifiably because he never had any criminal record.
“He is sound in religion knowledge and had been leading prayers in one of our mosques in Salame town.”
“His only sin was that he belonged to the Fulani tribe.”
According to Riskuwa, Imam Aliyu only went to the market to buy goods when he was killed.
Among those killed at the market, he said, were children and the Yan Sakai went away with their animals.
He called on the government to investigate the matter with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book.
The Chairman of Gwadabawa local government, Aminu Aya, confirmed the attack, saying the Yan Sakai were not from Gwadabawa.
According to him, the deceased were deposited at the Morgue of Specialist Hospital, Sokoto, and some of their relatives went there to recover their corpses.
He however, said that, normalcy was restored in the area.
The Sokoto state police command was yet to confirm the incident at the time of filing this report.
It can be recalled that Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal had prohibited the activities of Yan Sakai in the state.
