The incident occurred between the hours of 7.00 and 8.30 p.m., as a group of gunmen, suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect were said to have invaded Madala market on the outskirt of Suleja, shooting dead the victims at very close range for an undisclosed reason.
Investigations by Saturday Tribune however revealed that the incident caused some ripples in Minna, the state capital in the early hours of Friday, especially among non-indigenes as they are of the opinion that prior to the killings, their assailants had allegedly ordered them to recite some portions of the Holy Quran, after which they were shot dead.
It was further gathered that no sooner than distress calls were allegedly made to the Divisional Police Officer, Suleja Police Station, by some concerned citizens, that a team of police detectives ,led by the DPO, swung into action and raced to the scene with a view to salvaging the situation by taking the victims to the hospital for treatment.
But before the police could get there , the five victims, four of whom were identified by their relations and friends as: Uche Nguweze, John Kalu,Sunday Emmanuel and Oliver Ezemah, as well as the yet unidentified fifth person were said to have given up the ghost while the hoodlums were said to have fled.
A police source informed Saturday Tribune that as of Friday morning, the authorities of the state police command, were yet to ascertain whether there was any argument between the fleeing gunmen and the deceased traders.
The source who pleaded anonymity said that the prevalent opinion within the police high command in Minna, as of Friday, was that the gangsters must have gone to the market under the cover of the night to dispossess the victims of their valuables.
Culled from Nigerian Tribune
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