Bandits in Nigeria ambush and kill 21 government-backed fighters
When a convoy of pro-government fighters were attacked by bandits in the Safana district’s village of Baure, Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu, spokesman for the Katsina police said it was coming back from condolences to the family of a deceased colleague on Saturday.
“Sadly, 21 persons were fatally shot as a result of the attack”, Aliyu said, adding police were seeking to “ensure the arrest of the perpetrators” of the attack, which happened on Tuesday.
Witnesses, however, told Nigeria’s Premium Times that as many as 25 people were killed in the attack, while many more villagers remain missing.
The state-backed Katsina Community Watch Corps (KCWC), according to The Guardian, was home to the fighters.
According to Aliyu, who was quoted by the newspaper as saying that police had been dispatched to the attack’s location to help restore order.
Northwestern and central Nigeria is one of the states plagued by bandits who regularly raid villages, kill and kidnap residents, and burn and loot homes.
When gunmen attacked a rural area of the state in June 2024, at least seven people were killed and 100 were kidnapped.
The gangs, who maintain camps in a huge forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states, have earned notoriety for mass kidnappings of students from schools in recent years.
In the state, Boko Haram’s affiliate carried out attacks and kidnappings as well.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply