Mr Samuel Mashi, Chairman of Akwanga Local Government of Nasarawa State, said on Monday that gunmen killed a pregnant woman and 15 others in Numa village of the area on Sunday night.
Mashi told newsmen in Akwanga that the gunmen attacked the community about 10pm during a naming ceremony.
“They just started shooting sporadically on a community that was just having merriment.
“Unfortunately, 16 people were killed in cold blood for just no reason,” he said.
The chairman said that security had been beefed up in the affected community and environs to forestall reprisal attacks and further breakdown of law and order.
Similarly, Mr Samson Gamu-Yare, Chun-Mada and Chairman Traditional Council of Akwanga, described the attack as barbaric.
He added that apart from the 16 people killed, so many others were injured and are receiving treatment in various hospitals.
He called on the state and federal government to urgently fish out the perpetrators of the attack.
The monarch urged people of the affected community to remain law abiding even in the face of the unprovoked attack.
Confirming the incident, Mohammed Akira, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal investigation Department (CID), said the command had mobilised to the area to forestall further breakdown of law an order.
Gunmen had in March 2019 attacked and killed people in Merte and Nandem communities of the same LGA.
