Police reported that a group of cattle thieves attacked and killed 41 vigilantes in the volatile north of Nigeria. Numerous vigilantes from various communities in the Bakori are mobilized in Katsina state to find the group that had stolen animals from a local the day before.
According to reports, on February 3 and 4, bandits engaged Yan Sakai vigilantes in Yargoje Forest in Kankara Local Government Area, resulting in the death of over 40 people.
It was reported that seven towns’ worth of residents and vigilantes mobilized to recover the livestock that had been stolen by bandits. However, the terrorists who are well hidden in the woodlands attacked the teams.
In addition to the hundreds of people dead and several others injured, the devastated towns are anxiously looking for numerous people who remain missing.
The bandits are still hidden in the trees, where search groups are still working their deadly attack on the people. Jargaba, Gidan Gago, Gidan Alhaji Audu Gari, Gidan Shirai, Gidan Baushe, Unguwar Gogoi, and Dicikia are the seven localities that are impacted.
A group of violent crimes known as banditry includes armed robbery, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and raids on markets and villages. Force is used by bandits to instill terror, exact obedience, rape their captives, and illegally profit from them.
President Muhammed Buhari seemed to be in a bad mood last week from all reports. As Bandits struck just a few days before the APC’s presidential campaign rally in the president’s home state, so were APC members.
When Atiku Bagudu, the chairman of the APC Governors Forum, disclosed that the party had debated canceling the rally after the attack but opted to go ahead because of the difficulties experienced by party members who had to go despite the lack of petrol and Naira notes, he let the cat out of the bag.
The attack resulted in the deaths of around 40 villagers. The slaughter had kept the people of the state in a state of perpetual fear and agony.
The community leader Mahadi Guga said that with the recent unfortunate incident, everyone was feeling more afraid than before.
The state of Katsina, which belongs to Nigeria’s president Muhammad Buhari, is one of those impacted by the rising violence committed by armed gangs in the country’s northwest.
Attacks in the area have prompted criticism of Buhari’s eight-year administration, which was founded on a pledge to reduce insecurity in Nigeria.
The village attack and the deaths, according to the Katsina state special adviser on security, have outraged the locals. Authorities have urged restraint.
Residents of Katsina state threw rocks at the president’s convoy last week as he was there to commission work that the governor of the state had already begun.
Aminu Masari, the governor of Katsina State, has established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the circumstances behind the deaths of at least 40 people in the local councils of Kankara and Bakori.
In a press release yesterday, the Director General of New Media, Al-Amin Isah, stated that the governor had established the Commission of Inquiry to ascertain what exactly happened to cause the tragedy.
According to the statements, the panel will begin meeting on February 13 and is expected to submit its findings three weeks after being established.
Justice A.B. Abdullahi, the judge of the Katsina State High Court, serves as the head of the commission of inquiry, while Babangida Wagini serves as secretary and Abdullah Faskari serves as counsel.
In addition, it includes members from the Katsina Emirate Council, police, state security, and the Human Rights Commission.
According to reports, more and more dead remains are being found every day in their bush pathways or the forest after the brutal deaths of the locals. So, as of last Wednesday, it was discovered that the communities had found and buried over 102 deceased bodies.
Although there were several theories as to what caused the recent killings, the majority of experts held the view that the incident took place as a result of hundreds of cows being rustled by the thieves.
According to one group, the vigilante’s group members raided Gidan Gamji village over a year ago as retaliation, killing hundreds of groups and destroying dozens of homes.
The Fulani people decided to respond in kind after learning that this attack had not gone over well with them. According to another group, there was open violence between the Fulani settlements and vigilantes from the impacted areas.
Another source claims that two weeks ago, robbers stormed various towns in the Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State and rustled hundreds of cows. The residents of these locations were aroused by this development and decided to pursue them.
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According to reports, the locals organized themselves and decided to pursue the criminals with the help of the vigilantes.
A villager of Jargaba said that the vigilantes were attacked by the bandits and killed halfway between the villages of Gidan Gwaki and Gidan Gamo in the state of Kansara’s local government district.
Additionally, police reports confirmed that 50 cows and sheep had been stolen from a bandit attack on Alhaji Muntari’s home near Unguwar Audu Gare in Kandarawa.
According to a report from SP Gambo Isah, the state command’s image maker, on February 2 at 10 am, the illegal gang Yansakai reunited and followed the terrorists to reclaim the stolen animals.
Some people claim that the government is to blame for the tragedy since they have been living in a state of extreme anxiety and tension.
The community leader also believed that to achieve permanent peace in the country, the government should engage in talks with the bandits and the local people. The bloodshed in their neighborhood is not only repulsive but also unbelievable.
To express shock at the tragedy and to offer condolences, a delegation from the state government went to the impacted areas.
The secretary to the State Government, Muntali Lawal announced that a comprehensive inquiry will be conducted to identify those guilty of the most recent deaths.
A committee composed of two representatives from each of the impacted communities was also promised by the state administration, and its members would develop strategies for disturbing relief to the relatives of the victims.
