Residents said Tuesday's attack followed the killing of a cattle herder by suspected vigilante groups from Wamba in the neighbouring Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.
Bandits on Tuesday killed five crop farmers in a suspected reprisal attack in the Kakangi ward of the Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The community's residents said the attack followed the killing of a cattle herder on Monday by suspected vigilantes from Wamba in the neighbouring Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.
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The convener, Birnin Gwari- Niger inter-border Community for Peace and Development, Ishaq Kasai, while speaking to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, alleged that the vigilante attack on the cattle herder was carried out to scuttle a peace deal with bandits that had brought relative peace to the Birnin-Gwari Emirate.
He said about seven farmers had been killed in the last two weeks by bandits who invaded Katakaki under Kakangi ward and Dagara Magajin Gari under Birnin Gwari ward from neighbouring Zamfara and Niger states.
Mr Kasai said three farmers were severely injured and two motorcycles were stolen in the attack at Dagara Magajin Gari.
"Despite ongoing efforts at peace and reconciliation, we regret to report a deeply disturbing resurgence of violent attacks in the Area, recent of which involves the killings of 5 innocent farmers in Kakangi Community of the Western Part of Birnin-Gwari LGA of Kaduna State.
"In this month alone, at least seven (7) innocent persons have been killed in Birnin-Gwari, and several others seriously injured; the majority of whom were peaceful farmers who were either attacked on their farms or on their way to cultivate their lands.
"Most recently, on Tuesday, 19/8/2025, a shocking attack occurred in Kakangi district, where five (5) farmers were brutally murdered while working on their farms taken by surprise in a manner that reflects the increasing boldness of these criminal elements.
"In addition, three individuals were shot and severely injured, and at the time of this statement, several community members remain unaccounted for following the ambush launched by armed bandits on various farms in Kakangi," Mr Kasai said.
The community appealed to the authorities to address the resurgence of attacks in the area.
"We, therefore, issue this urgent call to action to the Local Government authorities, the Kaduna State Government, the Federal Government of Nigeria, and all other actors of the peace deal and reconciliation to take immediate and decisive measures to prevent a total breakdown of the fragile peace that the people of Birnin-Gwari have long worked hard to restore.
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"We condemn, in the strongest terms, these unjustified killings of innocent farmers in Kakangi and express our heartfelt condolences to the Kakangi Chiefdom's Council and the entire people of the community.
"This is not just a tragedy but a direct attack on food security, on peace, and on the livelihoods of rural Nigerians who ask for nothing more than to live and farm in peace", Mr Kasai said.
Birnin Gwari and several parts of Kaduna State have been plagued for over a decade by armed conflict and violence, as gunmen, locally called bandits, frequently attacked vulnerable communities, killing and kidnapping residents. Recently, normalcy has returned to the areas after the state government brokered a peace between the herders and the farming communities.
However, Birnin Gwari residents said the vigilante members, who did not participate in the peace truce, were deliberately frustrating the deal.
