Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen attacked three villages in the Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State early Saturday morning.
The attackers said to be about 40 swarmed on Ugwar Sankwai, Ungwar Gata and Chenshyi in the night when the villagers were still sleeping.
The gunmen are said to have killed everyone in sight and razed all the buildings to the ground.
A resident of Chenshyi, Nuhu Moses said not fewer than 50 in his community were killed by the attackers.
He said: “The attackers were more than 40 and were armed with dangerous knives, guns and other sophisticated weapons. Over 50 people were killed in our village alone and there is no house standing.
“All the houses were burnt by the attackers while people who attempted, to run were gunned down. I was just lucky to have escaped, but our pastor’s wife and kids were among the people that were butchered.”
Vice-Chairman of the council, Daniel Anyip said, “From our records, in all the three villages attacked, only five houses are standing, while people killed are about 100 including women and children. These are villages that housed a lot of people but they are now homeless.”
Governor, Mukhtar Yero condemned the attack, calling it “ungodly and barbaric”.
Centrum Initiative for Development and Rights Advocacy, a Southern Kaduna group also condemned the killings. Spokesman of the group, Dr. John Danfulani said, “We condemn in strong terms the killings that took place in Ungwan Gata, Me-Sankwai and Tekum villages by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
“The killings in three villages continued to early hours of Saturday and at the end, over 100 innocent Southern Kaduna people were butchered and killed by the assailants with impunity. It is a gradual genocide and an extinction.
“It is clear that the Kaduna State government and their agents are only playing politics with the insecurity ravaging the southern Kaduna region. We will also not shy away from stating the obvious, that the Kaduna state government has failed and is only playing double standard.”