At least 25 people have been killed and several others abducted by gunmen in Nigeria’s northwestern Katsina state, according to authorities.
Nasiru Babangida Mu’azu, the state commissioner for security affairs, told the media that dozens of gunmen on motorbikes stormed Yargoje in Kankara late on Sunday.
Attacks by armed groups, known locally as bandits, have become frequent in north-west and central Nigeria, with authorities struggling to curb the violence despite government and security force claims of efforts to improve security.
Residents reported that the attackers rode into the community, firing indiscriminately and looting shops before kidnapping an unspecified number of villagers.
A resident, who wished to remain anonymous, stated, “The people killed by bandits are more than 50, because some dead bodies are still being recovered from the bush.
They killed children, women, and men, and kidnapped a huge amount of people. They injured more than 30 residents who are currently receiving treatment at the general hospital.”
Another resident, Abdullahi Yunusa Kankara, said he narrowly escaped the attack, which continued into the early hours of Monday.
“Our town has turned into a death zone. Almost every house in the village has fallen victim to this attack. More dead bodies were recovered this [Monday] morning,” he said.
Surviving residents are attempting to determine the number of people abducted.
In December 2020, over 300 pupils were kidnapped from a boys’ secondary boarding school on the outskirts of Kankara by gunmen on motorcycles.
They were freed a week later after the Katsina state government confirmed they were negotiating with the kidnappers.
In March this year, dozens of passengers were abducted in a daylight attack in the same area of Katsina, the home state of former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari.
Source-BBC
