Twenty people were on Wednesday confirmed killed in fresh attacks by bandits on five communities in the Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.
The Katsina Police Command confirmed the incident on Wednesday.
SP Gambo Isah, the Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command told the media that apart from those who were killed, 21 others were critically injured during the attacks in kadisau village and are receiving treatment at General Hospital Funtua.
The attacks were carried out late Tuesday on Kadisau,Kabalawa, Kwakware, Unguwar Wahabi and Raudama.a
Residents said the bandits stormed the communities when preparations were being made to observe the Muslim evening prayers.
The bandits were said to have stormed the communities on over 100 motorcycles, after which they began shooting and burning houses and grain stores.
It was gathered that the hoodlums also molested some women, even as residents said many of them had to scamper for safety and spent a better part of the night inside the bush.
A prominent resident from the council, Hassan Muhammed, said 30 deaths were recorded in Kadisau, nine in Kabalawa, five in Kwakware, three in Unguwar Wahabi and one in Raudawa.
Muhammed, who is the Personal Assistant to the National Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Umat Tsauri, added that the bandits also rustled some animals.
When contacted, the spokesman for the Katsina Police Command, Gambo Isah, put the figures of those dead at 18.
Isah said, “Yesterday (Tuesday), we received a report that armed bandits numbering over 200 attacked Kadisau village in Faskari LGA.
“According to the report, the bandits went there with the intent to steal food items and other materials of the villagers. Unfortunately, a group of youths came out in large numbers and confronted the bandits. The bandits now opened fire on these innocent souls.
‘’As of yesterday (Tuesday), 14 were reportedly killed while 26 were admitted into the hospital. And this morning (Wednesday), as I spoke with the Area Commander of the Funtua Area Command, he told me that four more victims died in the hospital, bringing the number to 18.”
