At least 52 persons consisting of 50 vigilante group members and two locals were reportedly killed in a clash with bandits while fighting over rustled cattle in Kankara community, Katsina State between Thursday and the early hours of Friday.
Fifteen women were also said to have been kidnapped during the onslaught on the Kankara bandits-infested communities while no fewer than 10 cows were also rustled in the process.
One of the locals from the area said the crisis started at about 7:00 am on Thursday when some villagers in conjunction with vigilantes from the Bakori axis traced the footprint of their missing cattle to Gidan Gamji, a Fulani settlement in Kankara Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, said to be under bandits control. They demanded that their cattle be returned to them. But the bandits denied having possession of them, asking them to check somewhere else.
The confrontation eventually resulted in a gunfight in which many of the vigilante group members, along with the villagers were ambushed and killed by the terrorists.
According to a reliable source, “at least over 50 dead bodies have been recovered even as search is still ongoing in the bushes and farms with the view to recovering more victims”.
In a statement, Katsina Police Command spokesman, Superintendent of Police Gambo Isah however said that 41 people were killed in the clash:
He said: ‘The crisis actually started at about 10:00 pm on Wednesday, 1 February 2023, when AK-47 yielding terrorists in their numbers attacked the house of one Alhaji Muntari, at Unguwar Audu Gare, Kandarawa, Bakori LGA, and rustled 50 cows and 30 sheep.
“Subsequently, on Thursday, 2 February 2023, at about 10:00 am, ‘Yansakai’ the outlawed vigilante group, from 11 villages under Bakori LGA, regrouped and went after the terrorists with a view to recovering the rustled domestic animals. They traced the footpath of the hoodlums to a location at Yargoje Forest.
“Unfortunately, the terrorists planned and launched a coordinated ambush on the outlawed vigilantes killing forty-one (41) of them and wounded two (2) others.
“The Area Commander, Malumfashi Police Division, led a team of Policemen to the scene and recovered the corpses and the injured to Kankara General, Hospital. Joint security operations is currently ongoing with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book. An investigation is ongoing, please”.
Kankara has lately been under renewed attack by the hoodlums. On 16 January, eight Christian women were abducted while on their way to church at Gidan Haruna. They are yet to regain their freedom.
