An uneasy calm has returned to Ngalda as the search for fleeing armed men continues – police confirm robbers got away with ₦16.5 million, adding that a local man is being interrogated.

Gunmen have killed seven traders at a popular cattle market in Ngalda town, the headquarters of the Fika Local Government Area of Yobe State in Nigeria’s northeast.

The attack occurred on Monday, January 20, at about 9pm. Seven people – all of them traders at the market – were killed. Eleven people were wounded and are in hospital receiving treatment.

Three of the gunmen were also killed.

Mohammed Garundole, a journalist based in Damaturu in Yobe State, told RNI that residents of the town, most of them youths, had fought off the attackers with “local weapons”, such as cutlasses, knives and sticks. They managed to repel the attackers, killing two and wounding others.

“The Ngalda cattle market is one of the biggest cattle markets in Yobe State. Traders and businesspeople go to the market every Monday. They come from all over – including Taraba, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe and Borno states. Literally thousands of people flock to the cattle and main market every week,” he said.

“The attack was carried out by gunmen suspected of being robbers, cattle rustlers or bandits. Seven traders were killed and 11 people are being treated at the Fika General Hospital.

“Authorities have confirmed that the gunmen stole property and valuables, including cash.

“Ngalda town, the headquarters of the Fika Local Government Area, is about 150km away from Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State. The Yobe State government has set up a special committee to investigate the incident and will revert.”

Garundole said that the spokesperson of the Yobe State Command, Dungus Abdulkarim, had confirmed the incident. The alleged gang leader is in detention and is being interrogated.

“Based on the accounts of locals about what happened, the gunmen were not members of the Boko Haram [the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS)] or ISWAP [the Islamic State West Africa Province] groups but were more likely to be bandits, cattle rustlers or robbers.

“The weapons seized were mostly local – not the sophisticated weapons used by ISWAP or Boko Haram insurgents.

“For now, calm has returned to Ngalda town and people are going about their daily activities peacefully. But there is an air of uncertainty. Locals are worried that there could be more raids by armed men.”

Abdulkarim said in a statement released on Tuesday, January 21, that the attack was carried out by six armed robbers, led by a resident of Ngalda town named Datti Alhaji Dadji.

He said the robbers got away with about ₦16.5 million.

“The people of Ngalda town mobilised and killed three of the robbers, while three others escaped with injuries.

“The divisional police officer led a team of patrol officers to Alhaji Dadji’s house, where they recovered a locally made pistol with three cartridges. Alhaji Dadji was arrested and is in police custody, facing interrogation as the investigation unfolds.

“The victims and corpses were evacuated to the General Hospital Fika for medical treatment and autopsy. The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Garba, has ordered an immediate investigation into the incident and called for calm,” he said.

Garba sent his commiserations to the families of the victims. He ordered the police to arrest the “fleeing syndicate members” and urged the public to assist the command with credible information.

The governor of Yobe State, Mai Male Buni, sent his condolences to the families of the deceased and his sympathies to those who sustained injuries, “as well as the entire Ngalda community”.

He directed security agencies “to identify and block all loose ends to check the excesses of hoodlums in the area and across the state”.

“You should do a thorough investigation, check the loopholes to guard against future occurrence, just as you do not spare those involved,” he said.

SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO