By Patrick Idowu
Two vigilantes have been shot dead by unknown gunmen in a suspected reprisal attack at Mayaki, near Zago, a border community between Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory and Lapai Local Government Area of Niger State.
The victims were reportedly ambushed while riding a motorcycle back from Gulu market on Tuesday evening when the gunmen emerged from the bush and opened fire, hitting them in the chest and abdomen.
A member of the local vigilante group, Shuaibu Adamu, who is also a relative of one of the deceased, confirmed the incident to journalists.
He said it was villagers returning from the market who first discovered the bodies and their motorcycle by the roadside before alerting the rest of the vigilante team.
According to Adamu, the victims were rushed to a hospital in Gulu town, where doctors confirmed them dead. One of the bodies has since been buried in his hometown.
Adamu linked the killings to a reprisal attack, recalling that two armed men were recently killed while attempting to rustle cattle at a settlement in Mayaki village, located within the Abaji Area Council.
Confirming the incident, Alhaji Yakubu Musa, a leader of the herders in Mayaki, also attributed the attack to retaliation by gunmen.
“I want to use this medium to condole with the families of the victims,” Musa said in a phone interview.
He called on the authorities of both Abaji and Lapai to strengthen collaboration and security along the FCT-Niger State border to curb further attacks.