Bandits Raid Katsina Community, Kill 24 Persons
Those killed were mostly vigilante members who reportedly came out to confront the bandits.
By Abdurrahman Umar
Updated May 4,
At least twenty-four persons are said to have been killed and several others wounded in a fresh bandits attack on Unguwar Sarkin Noma community in Sabuwa Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Those killed were mostly vigilante members who reportedly came out to confront the bandits.
A local security official told Channels Television that during the attack which lasted for about an hour, four villages were raided by the hoodlums in what he described as reprisals over military offensives on the bandits’ hideouts.
He explained that the hoodlums stormed the villages of Unguwar Sarkin Noma, Gangara, Tafi, and Kore on Thursday night at about 9:00 pm shooting sporadically to scare the residents
The Chairman of Sabuwa Local Government Council, Faruq Dalhatu, on a telephone call, said 23 of the victims were buried per the Islamic rites on Friday morning after the attack.
He added that the last victim was also conveyed for burial from the hospital after he was certified dead.
“Upon hearing of the bandits’ mission to attack the Local Government Council, we swung into action by informing virtually all the security agencies
“They (security agencies) all responded to our distress call and availed themselves to the community. Before you know it, the Bandits raided the community and killed these people.
“Twenty-three people were buried from the beginning, in accordance with Islamic rites, and the last victim was conveyed from the hospital after he was certified dead,” he added.
Police authorities are yet to comment on the attack as phone calls put through the spokesman of the Katsina Police Command Abubakar Sadiq, were unanswered.
Sabuwa is among the eight most vulnerable security frontline local government areas in Katsina State where activities of bandits are on the increase almost daily
Meanwhile, the Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda, says banditry is now a “business venture.”
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Governor Radda accused some security personnel and government officials of aiding banditry.
“Now it has turned out to be a business venture. A business venture for the criminals, some people who are in government; and some people who are in security outfits, and some people who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of their people. These are so many reasons why we are unable to bring banditry to an end,” he said.
Criminal gangs known locally as bandits have, in recent years, repeatedly raided places mostly in rural areas in the northern region, abducting many and killing others
‘Business Venture’
“Now it has turned out to be a business venture. A business venture for the criminals, some people who are in government; and some people who are in security outfits, and some people who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of their people,” the governor said. “These are so many reasons why we are unable to bring banditry to an end.”
In recent years, criminal gangs known locally as bandits have repeatedly raided places mostly in rural areas in the northern region, abducting many and killing others.
President Bola Tinubu has made reducing insecurity one of his priorities. Some have called for negotiations with the bandits as a way to end the menace.
But the Katsina State governor said his government won’t negotiate from a “point of weakness”
“When you understand the terrain of the forest, and the different camps that we have within those forests… like in Katsina, we have more than 100 different camps that are being led by somebody. So, they have many leaders, many camps and if you’re negotiating with camps A and B and don’t negotiate with camps C and D, it will not bring any lasting peace,” Governor Radda said.
“Even if you negotiate with the leaders, the other followers of the leaders may not necessarily comply with the directives of their leader. So that is what makes the negotiation with the bandits a very difficult task,” he said.
“What I said is that I would never go into negotiations with any criminal at the point of weakness,” the governor added
