*As villagers capture three

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

KADUNA – Armed men numbering about 500 suspected to be foreigners from the Niger Republic yesterday attacked two villages in Jema’a Local Government Council of Kaduna State.

Report reaching Vanguard yesterday said the villages routed the invaders, captured three and handed them over to the Military-Police Joint Task Force deployed to parts of the council area since the post-election violence last April

Reacting to the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Aminu Lawal told Vanguard that he had no information on the attack, but said he would put a call across to the Police formation in Jema’a LGC and call back. But until press time, he did not call back.

According to Vanguard source, the invaders were armed with guns, machetes and spears when they swooped on the sleeping villages of Angwan Yuli and Angwan Yaro in Jema’a.

An eyewitness Saidu Mallam said: “We got information in the evening that strange men were seen around our villages. Then in the mid-night some men who have been keeping vigil noticed men approaching our area with arms. We woke all our people up. We saw these men coming in batches holding weapons. The first one numbered almost 200, and the second and the third numbering almost 300.

“The first and the second group did not start the attacks until the last group arrived, then they started attacking our people who had also taken positions.

“They had guns, swords and other local weapons. Some were holding petrol in cans.

“We were outnumbered and we had only inferior weapons. It was a rather sudden situation in the middle of the night and their numbers intimidate us.

But we manage to put up a fight, using knives, spears, bows and arrows. After  resisting them many of them fled to the bush and we captured three of them who have been handed over to the soldiers. The soldiers had been alerted about three hours before. The soldiers have taken them away.

“They are strange people that you can identified as Nigeriens. Even their accent can convinced you that they are far from us.

“ We have never experienced this kind of situation. The last election violence did not happen here, because there was no election here. Nobody attend churches today and early Muslim prayers was not said by the Muslims. We are still not sure of what would happen because some have escaped to the bush and may be staging a come back”