Wedding day massacre as gunmen kill 18 guests and wound 30 others in Nigerian region that has seen spate of violence between Muslims and Christians

 

Gunmen killed 18 guests at a wedding celebration in northern Nigeria's Kaduna state.

The armed men arrived on motorcycles and stormed Kukum-Daji village in Kaura district before opening fire on the guests at 10.35pm on Sunday. 

'The gunmen killed 18 people at the wedding party and injured 30 others, most of them young men,' said Bege Katuka Ayuba, the administrative head of the district.

'Fifteen died on the spot while three more died at the hospital,' he said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack but the area has recently been a hotbed of deadly violence between Muslim Fulani herders and ethnic Christian farmers.

The armed men arrived on motorcycles and stormed Kukum-Daji village in Kaura district before opening fire on the guests at 10.35pm on Sunday. Pictured, an unverified image used in local media reports purportedly shows the aftermath

The state police spokesman confirmed there had been deaths without giving a toll.
'There have been reports of loss of lives in the attack but we don't have a definite casualty figure yet,' Mohammed Jalinge said.

The mainly-Christian Southern Kaduna area has been wracked by a long-standing dispute between farmers and herders over grazing and water rights.

There has been an upsurge in tit-for-tat killings between the two groups in recent times, prompting the state authorities to initiate an unsuccessful truce.

A community leader in the area, who spoke to The Cable on condition of anonymity, said 30 people who sustained serious injuries were taken to Throne Room Hospital, Kafanchan, St. Gerald Hospital and Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital in Kaduna.

It comes a year after hundreds of men and boys were freed from a 'house of torture' Islamic school where they were kept in chains, sexually abused and beaten in Kaduna. Pictured, some of the 300 male students in the Rigasa area of Kaduna

'The attack took place around 10pm and lasted for about an hour. The herdsmen came in a convoy of motorcycles and they were armed with guns,' he said.

'We had a wedding earlier in the day and the youth continued with celebrations into the night. Everybody here is enraged by this attack.'

Some villagers are believed to be missing and security forces have been drafted to the area.
It comes a year after hundreds of men and boys were freed from a 'house of torture' Islamic school where they were kept in chains, sexually abused and beaten in Kaduna.

Source: dailymail.co.uk