Bandits Attack Katsina, Kills Village Head, Eight Others

Nine people were reportedly killed by bandits on Thursday morning when they struck Kuka Babangida village in Jibia Local Government Area, Katsina State. Among them was the village chief, Idris Haruna.

The event was confirmed by ASP Abubakar Aliyu, the spokesman for the Katsina police command, and LG council chairman Bashir Sabiu.

Gistlover learned that the criminals broke into the community just before midnight and continued their operations until Thursday morning around 1:30 a.m.

The criminals, according to the villagers, took their time moving from home to house looking for goods, especially cash.

According to additional sources, the bandits also murdered the village chief, his four children, and four additional people.

It remained unclear if they kidnapped victims or fled with goods.

The state Commissioner for Internal Security, Nasiru Muazu who spoke on the incident through his spokesman, Hassan Dan-Alli, said, “The state is committed to the protection of lives and property of people of the state. We shall not relent in our efforts to ensure that our people are safe wherever they are.”

This report was filed on Thursday when the victims were being buried.

Six traders were slain by the bandits last Friday morning while traveling to a small market in Yantumaki, in the state’s Danmusa small Government Area, according to Gistlover

The traders were attacked a short distance from the market, having traveled from Maidabino.

However, Alhaji Inuwa Mustapha, a former secretary to the Katsina State government, has asked governors of North-Western States to work together to combat banditry rather than individually, as is currently being done.

He maintains that no state can solve the issue on its own.

In an interview with The PUNCH, Inuwa, a prominent figure in the Peoples Democratic Party, suggested that the governors exert pressure on the federal government to support them in combating banditry and other crimes in the area.

In order to combat banditry in the North-West Region, the erstwhile SSG maintains that  “well-coordinated, sustainable and simultaneous operations against bandits.”

He said, “I will keep on saying this. Bandits may be large in numbers but they are not large enough to be a threat to national security if they are well tackled.

“In the first instance, there is no state in Nigeria that can single-handedly tackle insecurity. It requires the collaborative efforts and support of others including that of the Federal Government. If you could recollect, from January 2017 to 2019 Katsina put in several strategies to tackle insecurity, especially banditry

“We put up amnesty, met the bandits’ leaders, banned sales of fuel in jerry cans, closed cattle markets, shut down communication in some councils. But you know, these bandits are mobile, highly mobile. When you put up measures that are unfavourable to them in your state, they move to other states where they will be operating from.

“Let the Governors come together; let them put pressure on the Federal Government. With the active support of the President, they should carry out a well-coordinated simultaneous operation using both air and ground troops in the region, and with the assistance of local guides and local hunters who also know the terrains, these bandits would be tackled.

“We are concerned and every well-meaning Nigerian should be concerned too. Some schools cannot be accessed because of the activities of the bandits; so also some markets. Every day, we pray for the end of the problem.”