A successful assassination attempt was carried out by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Sunday night. The operation led to the death of the District Head of Fadan Kachikwu, Sanga Local Government Area, southern part of Kaduna State.
The assassinated District head, 66-year-old Mr. Bala Madaki, was murdered alongside his nephew, Emmanuel Tanko.
Speaking on the sad incident, a community leader in the area, Pastor Mike Makarfi said: “It was very hot last night (Sunday night) and people were sleeping outside. Around 10 p.m., the chief moved into his house with his family. Then some gunmen who our people said were Fulani, stormed his compound and started shooting.
“They went into his room and shot him point blank. They also shot a small boy, Emmanuel Tanko, who was writing his final year secondary school exams. The boy was the nephew of the late chief.
“Right now, Fadan Karshi is deserted. Shops and service centres are shut. People are either staying indoors or are leaving town. No one knows what is coming next.
“Police are patrolling the streets, but I am not sure if they have any clue about the murderers. I want you to recall that this was the District Head that received former Governor Mukhtar Yero on September 22, 2014, when our women protested half naked because of the scale of killings by Fulani going on at that time.
“Today, the type of killings going on are those of isolated people. Cattle are also grazing freely on people’s farms in these areas of Sanga and people are afraid to do anything about it. Now they are targeting people and eliminating them.
“What people are saying about the killings of our district head is that he may have been killed by Fulani who have a grudge against him and this community.
“In May, 2014, some Fulani armed men invaded the police station here and seven people were killed. As they were escaping, two were killed in an exchange of gunfire between them and the Police.
“The Fulani Association later petitioned the then National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) and copied the governor. They said that our late District head should be arrested, dethroned and prosecuted for the death of the two Fulani. We still have a copy of the petition. We suspect that his death may be connected to that incident.
He added that the incident was a rather unfortunate one “because in the past one week, we have had some respite, just for the violence to turn this way,”
On the killing, the Kaduna State Police Spokesman, DSP Zubairu Abubakar, told news agency, Vanguard, that he was aware of the incident, but that he was waiting for the DPO from Karshi to brief him properly on the incident.
He said: “I don’t have the details yet. When I do, I will surely give you,”