Bandits reportedly struck once more early on Thursday morning at Kuka Babangida village, Jibia Native Authorities Space of Katsina State, killing no fewer than 9 residents, together with the village head, Idris Haruna.
The Chairman of the LG Council, Bashir Sabiu, confirmed the incident along with the spokesperson of the Katsina State Police Command, ASP Abubakar Aliyu.
The PUNCH gathered that the bandits attacked the village a couple of minutes earlier than midnight and had been energetic till about 1:30 am on Thursday.
Villagers mentioned the bandits took time to go from home to deal with searching for valuables, together with cash.
Sources additional revealed that the bandits killed the village head, his 4 youngsters and 4 others within the course of.
It couldn’t be decided whether or not they kidnapped individuals or left with valuables.
The state Commissioner for Inside Safety, Nasiru Muazu, who spoke in regards to the incident by means of his spokesperson Hassan Dan-Alli, mentioned: “The state is dedicated to defending lives and properties of individuals of the state. We won’t surrender in our efforts to make sure our individuals are protected wherever they’re.”
Efforts had been being made to bury the victims on Thursday, when this report was filed.
The PUNCH reviews that the bandits final Friday morning killed a minimum of six merchants who had been on their solution to a neighborhood market in Yantumaki in Danmusa Native Authorities Space of the state.
The merchants, touring from Maidabino, had been attacked just some kilometers from the market.
Former Secretary to Katsina State Authorities, Alhaji Inuwa Mustapha, has, nonetheless, urged Governors of the North-Western States to collectively deal with banditry as a substitute of doing so individually as is at the moment being completed.
He emphasizes that no state can deal with the issue alone.
Inuwa, chief of the Peoples Democratic Get together, in an interview with The PUNCH, additionally suggested governors to place stress on the Federal Authorities to assist them deal with banditry and different crimes within the area.
The previous SSG confused that tackling banditry within the northwestern area requires “well-coordinated, sustained and simultaneous operations in opposition to bandits.”
He mentioned: “I’ll proceed to say this. Bandits could also be giant in numbers, but when correctly handled they don’t seem to be giant sufficient to pose a risk to nationwide safety.
“Firstly, there isn’t any state in Nigeria that may single-handedly deal with insecurity. It requires the mixed efforts and assist of others, together with the federal authorities. In case you recall, from January 2017 to 2019, Katsina carried out a number of methods to deal with insecurity, particularly banditry.
“We launched an amnesty, met with the leaders of the bandits, banned the sale of gasoline in jerry cans, closed the livestock markets and shut down communications in some municipalities. However you understand, these bandits are cellular, very cellular. If you impose measures which can be unfavorable to them in your state, they’ll transfer to different states from which they’ll function.
“Let the governors meet collectively; allow them to put stress on the federal authorities. With the energetic assist of the President, they need to perform a well-coordinated simultaneous operation with each air and floor forces within the area, and with the assistance of native guides and native fighters who additionally know the terrain, these bandits may very well be tackled.
“We’re involved and each well-meaning Nigerian must be involved too. Some faculties are inaccessible as a result of actions of the bandits; so additionally some markets. Every single day we pray for the tip of the issue.”
