On Friday, September 1, 2023, an attack by suspected terrorists in the Saya-Saya locality within Nigeria’s Kaduna State’s Ikara Local Government resulted in the tragic deaths of at least nine worshippers. Alhassan Muhammed, the representative of Ikara local government in the state’s House of Assembly, revealed that the assailants targeted two communities. While 7 persons were killed inside a mosque during night prayer, two others were killed in the neighbourhood.
Responding to the incident, a joint force comprising military and other security personnel has initiated operations to locate the terrorists, who had posed as members of the Ikara community. During the assault, seven Muslim worshippers lost their lives in a mosque, while two others were killed on the way as the attackers attempted to flee the scene.
Alhassan Muhammed said, “The sad incident happened on Friday after night prayers, the gunmen invaded the Saya-Saya town on a motorcycle with sophisticated weapons. They started shooting inside and outside the mosque during the night prayer, killing seven people inside the mosque and two others in the neighbourhood. The Kaduna State government, the local government councils and other stakeholders are on top of the situation to prevent the recurrence of the ugly incident.”
According to a witness named Dan-Asabe Ikara, two additional individuals fell victim to the same assailants in Tashin Dauda, a nearby village, as they attempted to escape from the initial attack scene. This took the total toll of deaths to nine.
Dan-Asabe Ikara said, “I was there when the incident happened, we were praying. I was at the mosque premises, and two of the attackers covered their faces and approached the mosque before they started firing. One of them (attackers) blew a whistle, and one other said ‘We have arrived’ before they started firing indiscriminately at the worshippers. They killed six people inside the mosque, and the seventh victim died at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, in Kano State, before being attended (to) by a medical doctor.”
State police authorities have attributed blame to the members of the Ikara community for not promptly notifying security personnel about the presence of unfamiliar individuals within their community. These strangers were reportedly observed in the market and various other locations by the Ikara residents before the attack occurred.
The police spokesman in Kaduna state of Nigeria, Mansir Hassan said, “We are calling on the public to report any suspicious movement or the presence of strange faces within their vicinities for prompt response by the force. The bandits were spotted in the village on surveillance earlier in the day but none of the villagers could alert the appropriate security agency before the hoodlums struck in the night. The Command is not happy with the situation. The bandits went to the village around 4 p.m., buying things from the villagers. Seeing strange faces, the villagers were supposed to communicate with the police in the area.”
He said, “Bandits, about nine of them on motorcycles, arrived and attacked the people in the Mosque. At about 8:00 p.m. on Friday, we received information from Saya-Saya village that six persons were killed while performing the last prayer of the day in a Mosque. At the spot, they shot six persons while praying in a mosque in the village. The bandits took away four motorcycles. So far no arrest was made at the scenes of the incident but five empty shells of AK49 rifle were recovered.”
Such terrorist attacks are not new to Nigeria; heavily armed unknown groups have wreaked havoc in northern Nigeria for the past three years. They have kidnapped thousands and killed hundreds of people. In some areas, they have made road travel unsafe.
