Not fewer than thirty (30) persons were reported to have drowned in a canoe accident last night while fleeing from a bandit attack in Bukkuyum local government of Zamfara state. Vigil360 learned that most of the victims were women and children who were trying to cross a river to a safe haven in the across community when the overloaded canoe capsized. The source revealed that armed bandits believed to be from Gando and Barikin Daji forests in recent times have stepped up their raids of local villages around the Bukkuyum and Gummi Local Government Area of the state.
According to the source, some two weeks back, the terrorist in a single raid massacred 15 worshippers while praying in a mosque at one Ruwan Jema community of the Bukkuyum Local Govt area.
However yesterday, another attack followed where the terrorist after invading the Birnin Waje community started a sporadic shooting where the villages were thrown into pandemonium as scampering for safety ensured a stampede amongst the villagers who were struggling to board a canoe to cross to the next village that ultimately ended their lives. m
Though it was revealed that the canoe rider warned them of overloading the canoe warning them that they were too much for the canoe to carry demanding that others should wait, none of them was ready to wait behind for the fear of the unknown.
According to the source, “The armed men then followed the fleeing residents to the river bank firing shots. In the middle of the river, the canoe riders who probably could not withstand the gunfire by the bandits jumped into the waters leaving the canoes adrift. Even though, some residents managed to escape after they plunged into the waters and swam to the shores.”
He disclosed that his younger sister lost three of her children in the incident currently there is fear that the terrorist is still laying siege in the village.
At the time of putting up this report, the spokesperson of the Nigerian police in Zamfara state, SP Mohammed Shehu could not be reached for comment.
