Tobias Sylvester
Gunmen suspected to be bandits have burnt at least 30 passengers inside a bus traveling from Sabon Birni local government area to Sokoto town.
It was gathered that the incident happened on Tuesday around Gidan Bawa village where the bandits blocked the road and set the vehicle ablaze.
Sokoto State Police spokesperson, ASP Sanusi Abubakar, who confirmed the incident yesterday, said that those killed might be about 17, Reuters report.
According to him, the bus was carrying 24 passengers when it was set alight by armed men and that seven people had escaped with injuries and were taken to hospital.
Abubakar said, “The vehicle is carrying 24 passengers out of which 7 victims were admitted and an unidentified number of burnt dead bodies”.
However, Sources from Sabon Birni local government insisted that the number of those burnt in the vehicle could be higher than what the police confirmed, as a particular family lost ten members to the incident.
Two residents who reached the scene and helped retrieve bodies told Reuters that the bus was overloaded and the bodies were burnt beyond recognition.
The residents, who to Reuters that the incident was really heartbreaking, said they counted body parts of at least 30 people, including women and children.
KanyiDaily had also reported how 22 persons were feared killed on Saturday when suspected bandits attacked a religious group who were traveling along the Jos-Zaria road in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
