Armed gang kill ward head, rape, kidnap in Nasarawa

An armed gang which invaded a village shot and killed the ward head of Agwan Mada in Kado village of Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, the paramount ruler in Garaku, Pharm. Silvester Ayih said yesterday.
The Abaga Toni also said the gang, which he accused of being “Fulani” raped a woman, and kidnapped another during the robbery operation which he said lasted between midnight and dawn of yesterday. The second woman, according to him, was dragged into
the bush and taken
away.
He told newsmen at the Abaga Toni palace in Garaku, that Saleh Tanko, the ward head, was killed in the presence of his family when the gang invaded the village in their large number. He said the ward head was shot in the chest.
"We don't know whether the ward head resisted them. But he was eventually shot in the chest and he died instantly. He has since been
buried,” the paramount ruler said.
He said the gang also robbed several persons including one Micah Dogo, a former councilor in the area.
He said the matter has since been reported to the police.
The Abaga Toni also said a man believed to be Fulani, was arrested in the same village, in the afternoon, after the attack. He said the suspect was carrying an AK74 rifle hung on his back, when a team of vigilante arrested him.
He said: "They accosted him and demanded to search him but he resisted. After a struggle, the vigilante discovered the man has an AK 47 strapped to his back.” He said the suspect was in the village to buy GSM airtime, when he was arrested and was handed over to the police in Garaku.
State police spokesman, Cornelius Ocholi confirmed “an invasion on the village in Kokona,” just as he confirmed the killing of one man there.
“There was a distress call to the police. Before a team of armed policemen could reach there, the assailants disappeared into the bush. The CP (Commissioner of Police Umar Shehu) has sent more men there and they are on ground to track the assailants,” Ocholi said.