Agaju Madugba, Katsina
Days after suspected bandits reportedly killed no fewer than 30 residents of Tsawa and Dankar villages in Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State, gunmen on Thursday morning stormed the Gurbi village of Kankara Local Government Area, killing four residents.
Confirming the report in a press statement, the Police Public Relations Officer at the Katsina police command, SP Gambo Isa, noted, however, that the police succeed in killing 17 of the suspected bandits in a shoot-out.
According to the statement, “on February 27, at about 03:00hrs, a distress call was received that bandits in their numbers armed with AK 47 rifles stormed Gurbi village, Kankara LGA of Katsina state, killed four persons and rustled a large number of domestic animals after they received a fierce resistance by the local vigilante groups.
“The commissioner of police, directed the DPO Kankara Division to lead Operation Puff Adder in collaboration with vigilance groups to the scene.
“The team succeeded in killing 17 suspected bandits and recovered 80 cows, 180 sheep and a donkey which the hoodlums earlier carted away from the village and other neighbouring villages.
“Some of the bandits managed to escape with gunshot wounds. Operatives are combing the nearby bushes for the arrest of the fleeing bandits and recovery of their operational weapons.”
Armed bandits, cattle rustlers and kidnappers have continued to terrorise a number of Katsina communities even several months after Governor Aminu Bello Masari said he struck a deal with a cross section of the hoodlums to embrace the dialogue option.
Eight out of the 34 local government areas of the state have since received the tag of “frontline” due to the frequency of attacks in parts of the areas.
The local government areas are, Safana, Batsari, Jibia, Dan-Musa, Dutsima, Kankara, Dandume, and Sabuwa.
But with recent developments, the hoodlums have seemingly expanded their areas of operations to include parts of Batagarawa, Rimi, Danja, Matazu, Kaita, Dutsima and Malumfashi local government areas.