Black Sunday as Gunmen kill 20 People Outside a Kaduna Mosque

 

Unknown Gunmen opened fire on a group of people as they left prayers at a mosque in the northern state of Kaduna on Sunday, killing about 20, a military spokesman said.

The gunmen carried out the brazen attack in the early hours of the day after embarking on a house to house search and shooting and killing people indiscriminately.

A resident reported that the gunmen were disguised in police uniforms as they stormed the mosque in the village of Dogon Dawa just before sunrise, shooting both those still worshipping within the building as well as some outside.


Some of their victims were also stabbed to death by the marauders.

Some sources in the village claimed the killings was a revenge attack by armed robbers as community vigilantes helped capture some robbers who were attacking passengers and motorists in the area a few weeks ago.
It is said that the thieves had tried to rob some residents earlier in the week but were repelled, the robbers returned to the village on Sunday and carried out what was termed as a "revenge" attack.

The armed robbers reportedly wrote a letter to the community, insisting they will revenge and warning of the impending attack.

However, some villagers sharply disagree with the armed robbery theory insisting that the attackers had other motives beyond armed robbery.

Village resident Dauda Maikudi said that thieves regularly target the area as Dogon Dawa falls along a main road frequently used by traders carrying goods and cash between the north and south of Africa's most populous country.
"It was a pre-dawn raid," he said. "The attackers…, some of them dressed in police uniform, came into the village. They killed eight worshippers in the mosque and killed 13 other residents in the village."

Meanwhile, residents have began fleeing the villages around Dogo Daji in droves to avoid becoming victims of further attacks.