The most recent violence before the parliamentary and presidential elections in Nigeria saw over 40 people dead in clashes between vigilantes and gunmen in the country’s northern Katsina state.
An armed gang, known locally as bandits, raided a village in Katsina’s Bakori local government area on Friday,February 3, robbing it of cattle and sheep before escaping into the wilderness, according to the spokesperson for the Katsina state police, Gambo Isah.
According to the spokesperson, a local vigilante group mobilized and pursued the gunmen, which resulted in the deadly altercation and significant casualties.
“A joint security operations is currently ongoing with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book,” Isah said.
Katsina is one of the northern states hardest hit by armed gangs who attack and kidnap people from villages and highways in remote parts of the region where security forces are stretched.
The lack of security has become pervasive and is a major issue for voters ahead of the February 25 election to elect new members of parliament and a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader who took office eight years ago vowing to reduce insecurity.
50 people have died in Katsina, according to two security sources. On Friday, the bodies of those killed were retrieved from the bushes. According to the sources, those hurt during the confrontations were brought to the state’s Kankara hospital.
Communities are warned against using vigilantism to enforce the law on their own as it could have fatal repercussions, according to Ibrahim Ahmed, a special adviser on security for Katsina.
