New Telegraph

How bandits roasted woman, newborn, 29 others in Sokoto

A pregnant woman has been confirmed to have given birth before she and her new born baby, along with 29 other passengers were burnt to ashes. The woman and the other passengers were said to be travelling from Sabon Birni, Sokoto State to Abuja before they met their gruesome death in the hands of bandits that have terrorized the area. Some survivors of the attack, who narrated their ordeals, said that they escaped miraculously but cannot explain how. One of them said: “We were on the road, when from nowhere the gunmen appeared, and started shooting at our vehicle along Gidan Bawa Village. “They first shot the tyres, and the vehicle somersaulted, then caught fire. Many people were burnt to death, including women and children. “Some of the survivors are presently receiving medical treatments at Sabon Birni General Hospital as result of high degree burns they sustained from the attack.” The survivor added: “I didn’t even notice that my trousers were on fire because I was running to safety.

“Some Good Samaritans at the neighbouring community assisted us and saved our lives. “The bandits surrounded our burning vehicle and watched helplessly as passengers were roaring and shouting for assistance until the victims roasted into ashes.” Recall that the passengers had boarded the ill-fated commuter vehicle from Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, on their way to Gusau. It was a smooth journey until the attack at Gidan Bawa Village in which 37 of them were burnt alive in the vehicle conveying them. An eye witness, who first got to the scene of the attack, stated that seven out of 32 people were alive and taken to hospital. He maintained that the passengers were roasted beyond recognition as the attackers, who rounded the vehicle, set the bus conveying the victims on fire.

Saturday Telegraph further gathered that the victims were migrating from the area enroute Gusau to other areas for safe haven as their communities in Sabon Birni and Isa had been dispersed by bandits. Our Correspondent checks also revealed that the attack was seen by many of the residents of Sabon Birni and Isa as a retaliation by the bandits for the aerial bombardments carried out by Nigerian Air Force jets around the area recently, where many bandits were neutralised. However, some have said that it was part of the more vicious attacks Turji threatened to carry out until Shinkafi Market is reopened by the government of Zamfara State. It was gathered that local weekly markets where bandits source their food perform suspicious activities, were closed in Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina states, due to security concerns.

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