Five people have been confirmed dead after bandits, suspected to be loyal to Bello Turji, opened fire on a vehicle conveying 24 people from Sabon-Birni to Rijiyar Ladan village, in Sabon-Birni local government area of Sokoto State.
According to one of the passengers who survived the attack, it occurred in Gidan Bawa junction on Monday morning.
In a video clip provided by a human rights group in Sokoto State, Rundunar Adalci, the victim (name withheld) said the bandits opened fire on the vehicle and set it ablaze. The victim, seen sitting on a hospital bed with burn wounds on his body, said two of them miraculously escaped from the burning vehicle’.
The coordinator of Rundunar Adalci, Basharu Guyawa, told newsmen that they took the passengers to the hospital.
They were 24 people including men and women on the bus. There were several infants and children in the vehicle. For now, we have eight people with several degrees of injuries that have been taken to the General Hospital in Isa town. The chairman of Isa town has settled the medical bills, he said.
Guyawa said five of the passengers died in the hospital, adding that they were three women, a girl and a man.
The Police spokesperson in Sokoto State, Sanusi Abubakar, did not respond to calls and SMS sent to him on the attack.
