Suspected cattle rustlers on Tuesday afternoon killed eight persons at Kurega village in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Reports say the bandits attacked the community, which shares a boundary with ‎Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area around 2 pm, shooting sporadically.

A leader in the community who identified himself as ‘Sardauna’ told reporters that the injured persons had been taken to an hospital in the nearby community, Udawa village, adding that the rustlers also stole some cows from their fellow Fulanis in the community.

“They just came into the town this afternoon and opened fire on innocent people killing some and took away cows,” Sardauna said.

‎Another member of a vigilante group in the area who said he took part in chasing the bandits away from the village said they ran into the bush when they sighted vigilantes coming after them.

‎”The people of Kurega village lost eight of their strong hunters. We have brought out eight bodies to the town, from the bush.

“The prominent members of the vigilantes killed are the head of vigilantes in Kurega village, then Wamzam too was killed. Falari and another hunter nicknamed Arna Basu Ganinka were also killed by the rustlers,” he said.

Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Aliyu Muktar however said only three persons were killed while four others were critically injured.

“Yes, we got the information that around 2 pm, some suspected cattle rustlers attacked Kurega village , killed three persons and injured four others,” he said.

Mr. Muktar added that the Command had already deployed officers to the area to restore law and order.