By Chimezie Enyiocha

Bandits have attacked a mosque in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing two worshippers in the process.

The police authorities in Kaduna state have not confirmed the attack.

However, a community leader, Sani Usman, told Channels Television that the bandits invaded the Mosque at Anguwar Makera in Kwasakwasa community in the local government at about 2 p.m. on Friday and opened fire on the worshippers.

He said that two people were gunned down by the bandits in the attack.

According to the source, the Muslim worshippers were observing the second round of the Salat prayers when they were attacked, thereby forcing the remaining people to flee from the Mosque.

Friday’s attack comes barely 24 hours after 287 students and pupils were kidnapped by bandits at a government secondary and primary school at Kuriga community in Chikun Local Government Area.

Narrating the incident at Kuriga, one of the teachers who escaped from the kidnappers, Sani Abdullahi, said that out of the 287, 100 pupils were abducted from the primary school while 187 students were abducted from the secondary school. Both schools are within the same premises.

The Thursday attack where the 287 pupils and students were abducted has attracted condemnations from far and within.

Reacting to the incident, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) through its representative in Nigeria, Christian Munduate, rued the attack, saying that Nigerian children deserve to learn in a peaceful environment.

Munduate said schools are supposed to be sanctuaries of learning and growth, not places of fear and violence.

UNICEF urged immediate action to ensure the safe return of the abducted children and staff and called on authorities to implement comprehensive measures to secure schools across Nigeria.

While also condemning the abduction of the pupils, students and internally displaced persons in Borno State, President Bola Tinubu directed an immediate rescue of the victims.

In a statement by Special Adviser to the President, Ajuri Ngelale on Friday, the president described the victims as “very vulnerable”, directing security and intelligence agencies to rescue them and ensure that justice is served against the perpetrators of the abominable acts.

“I have received briefing from security chiefs on the two incidents, and I am confident that the victims will be rescued. Nothing else is acceptable to me and the waiting family members of these abducted citizens. Justice will be decisively administered,” President Tinubu said.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, was in Kuriga community some hours after the school children were abducted.

During the visit, Governor Sani assured them of the safe and timely return of the kidnapped children, stating that security agencies are working round the clock to ensure their release.

“With pain in my heart, I visited Kuriga, Chikun Local Government, where bandits kidnapped primary and secondary school pupils and students, to commiserate with members of the community and assure them that all steps are been taken to ensure the safe return of the pupils and students,” he wrote on his X account.

He also reiterated his administration’s commitment to tackle insecurity in Kaduna State.

Bandit attacks in the North-West part of the country have been on the increase in recent times, with residents taking to the streets to protest the ugly trend.

Residents of Goningora in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State last week blocked the Abuja-Kaduna highway in protest of the attacks on their community by bandits.

Residents of the Kankara Local Government Area in Katsina State also recently embarked on another protest over the incessant bandit attacks in their community.

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