KADUNA State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said the death toll in the recent attack in the state has risen to 130 against the February 15 total of 66 people.

The governor announced this while addressing the state house correspondents after an expanded security meeting summoned by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The special security meeting, convened to address the resurgence of dangerous attacks in Kaduna, Borno and Adamawa states, was attended by the three state governors and security heads, as well as service chiefs.

The killings in Kaduna occurred in Kajuru Local Government  of the state. El-Rufai had earlier announced on Friday, February 15, of the death of 66 persons by unknown attackers in the local government.

El-rufai said on Tuesday that those who doubted his statement of the death toll were “grossly irresponsible.”

He said as governor, he received and read security briefings every morning. “I work only on that basis,” Kaduna governor said.

El-rufai said that  “the latest report shows that over 130 were killed, not even 66”.

The Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdulrahman, who also attended the briefing said eight persons were earlier arrested but three more have been arrested as at the time he spoke on Tuesday.

“We intended prosecuting those arrested today but as we speak three more are arrested. We want to do the needful before taking them to court,” he said.

The Kaduna governor had reported that 66 bodies which included 22 children and 12 women were recovered in attacks by criminal elements on various dispersed hamlets in the Maro Gida and Iri axis of Kajuru LGA.

El-rufai announcement on Friday has been criticised by many as it came barely 24 hours to the initially planned presidential and national assembly elections of February 16 which was shifted to February 23.

While some people said the state government is not the proper body to announce such incident, but the state security agency, others question the government on why it delayed the announcement till Friday evening when the killings started a week earlier.

However, the Nigerian Army had confirmed on Saturday, February 16 the killing of 66 people where 37 of them were ‘slaughtered’ at a river bank in Kajuru LGA.

But the security agency is yet to confirm the new figure released by  Kaduna governor as at the time of filing this report.