At least 20 of the worshippers were killed while scores of others were injured in the attack that took place around 5.30am.
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, a source told our correspondent that the gunmen were on reprisal after some of them were identified by the villagers.
The source said the bandits had earlier notified the community through a letter that they were coming to attack them on an unstated date.
The source, who craved anonymity said, “Sometimes ago, there were a series of robberies in the area, especially along the Kaduna/ Birnin Gwari Highway. Some women were even raped in the process. So, a committee was set up to help find out those responsible and put an end to it. The committee did a good job as they were able to identify some of those responsible for the robberies and other criminal activities in the area.
“A former Hakimi (District Head) in Dogo Dawa was in charge of the committee that was responsible for sanitising the area and that was why, in the last three month, there was no robbery in the area as the people were able to identify the criminals and they were being silently eliminated one after the other.
“Many of the criminals must have fled the village when they discovered that they no longer had a base there.
“But this (Sunday) morning, they came back and went to the house of the man they suspected to be responsible for identifying them. They killed him and two of his children and cut off the hand of his wife. They also killed 17 other people in the village. I learnt that those people they killed were just coming from the early morning prayers.
“I can confirm to you that it was not a robbery operation, but it was the criminals themselves that came for a reprisal because the people have been identifying them.”
Also, the traditional ruler and councillor of Birnin Gwari, a neighbouring LGA, Abdullahi Muhammad, told Reuters that the attack was most likely carried out by a local criminal gang.
He said, “We are suspecting a reprisal by gangs of armed robbers, who lost some of their members after a recent exchange of fire with the villagers and the vigilantes.
“The village had been terrorised by an armed group operating from camps in the forest. These armed men mostly attack villagers and motorists along the busy Kaduna–Lagos highway.”
But, the Commissioner, Kaduna State Police Command, Mr. Olufemi Adenaike, who also described that attack as a reprisal by some robbers, added that 12 people were killed.
Disclosing that the villagers killed two of the criminals, he dispelled rumours that people died in a Mosque at Dogodawa village.
“From what I heard, some villagers arrested armed robbers, then some robbers came back today (Sunday) and killed 12 people in a reprisal. But the villagers killed two of them. The rumour going round that 20 people were killed while coming from a mosque is not true, but I will get back to you when I get full details,” he told our correspondent.
He said that policemen in the state had moved to the scene of the killings to get the full details of what happened.
Kaduna State, like other states in northern Nigeria, has been under attacks by the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, which targets security forces, government officials and Christian worshippers.
Kaduna had also been plagued by religious conflicts which had many times resulted in violence.
Meanwhile, the Joint Task Force on Operation Restore Order on Sunday confirmed an early morning explosion along Bama Road in Maiduguri, Borno State.
JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, told newsmen in Maiduguri that there was no casualty.
“It is true that we had a blast along Bama Road in the early hours on Sunday. The truth is that there was no casualty,’’ he said.
Musa said that the bomb was planted on the road in anticipation of the JTF patrol vans.
“They were probably targeting our patrol vans or other civilians. But fortunately, the bomb went off without hitting any target.’’
Musa appealed to residents of the state to be vigilant and report suspicious objects to the JTF promptly.
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