Gunmen on Friday night stormed the residence of the Labour Party’s House of Representatives candidate for Lere Federal Constituency in Kaduna State, Suleiman Tambaya, killing two.
Tambaya escaped the attack which occurred at about 10:00 pm.
It was gathered that the gunmen missed the candidate as he was away at a political meeting in Kaduna, the state capital.
The latest attack comes barely three months after gunmen killed the party’s women leader, Victoria Chimtex in her residence in Kaura Local Government Area of the state.
The incident which occurred in November 2022 received national condemnation. Victoria’s husband was shot in the leg and was rushed to an undisclosed medical facility for treatment.
Narrating his ordeal on Saturday, Tambaya said he escaped due to divine intervention and the prompt response from the members of the community and local vigilante.
He said, “I was planning to go home yesterday(Friday) but I spoke to our governorship candidate and he asked me to come and see him. That was when I diverted and came to Kaduna.
“At about 10:00 pm(Friday), some seven armed men came to my house in the village(Gure), asking about my whereabouts and they said I am supposed to be home.
“Some young men in my house were able to escape and raised an alarm; members of the community came and the vigilante too came out and confronted them. But unfortunately, along the process, they(gunmen) killed two of our boys.
“You know the community has a vigilante team and immediately they responded but in the process, the gunmen shot two of our boys. One of the boys died on the spot while the other one died at the hospital.
“We reported the case to the Divisional Police Officer and he promptly mobilized personnel to the scene of the incident.”
Attempts to speak with the state police command’s spokesman, DSP Mohammad Jalige, were unsuccessful as he did not pick up calls put to his line. He also did not respond to a text message on his mobile telephone.
