Islamic Scholar Shot Dead by Gunmen, Two Injured.

A renowned Sokoto-based Islamic scholar, Mallam Liman Danda Birkitawa, has been killed by gunmen at Dabagi, in a remote village in Dange Shuni Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

The incident, according to an eyewitness, occurred last Saturday at about 6pm when the gunmen, numbering about four, stormed the scene on two motorcycles and shot the cleric dead without taking any of his belongings.

Two of the deceased’s family members were also shot during the attack but were later rushed to the Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto by the villagers.
They are receiving treatment.

One of the deceased’s children, Muhammed Bello, while speaking to journalists, said the gunmen arrived the village and started shooting sporadically before gaining access to the deceased’s private room, where they shot him dead.

Bello said: “As the strange youths arrived, they asked for my father and before we realised what their mission was, they had gunned down my father and also shot at two of my siblings.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Sokoto State Police Command, DSP Salisu Sani, said the command was yet to be briefed on the incident as at the time of filing the report.

Reacting, the state Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Aliyu Sidi, lamented the incessant killings in the state and charged the state government to be proactive in protecting lives and property.

“Similar cases of assassinations have been reported in the state of recent but since then there was not much action taken by stakeholders,” Sidi said.