Minutes before residents of Jikamshi village gathered to break their Ramadan fast on Tuesday evening, a man who had just returned home from Lagos sat quietly at the entrance of the town.
Moments later, bandits on motorcycles stormed the community, firing as they advanced along the main road. Terrified residents scattered in every direction.
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By the time the gunmen retreated shortly after iftar, three people lay dead, 14 others were injured, and several shops were looted in an assault that lasted more than an hour.
Jikamshi, a farming settlement in Musawa Local Government Area near the border with Matazu LGA, had rarely experienced violence on this scale. The raid has renewed fears about the security of rural communities in Katsina despite local reconciliation arrangements with armed groups to reduce bandit attacks.
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Attack timed to breaking of fast
Residents said the attackers struck shortly before Muslims sat down to break their Ramadan fast and remained in the village until shortly after the evening meal.
The gunmen, estimated to be more than 20, arrived on about a dozen motorcycles.
Residents said they entered from the town’s northern outskirts, riding through settlements along the Katsina–Matazu border.
A community leader who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES described the route.
“They came through the border we share with Matazu Local Government, through a village called Kogari,” the source said.
“They followed a polling unit called Dangaske and entered Jikamshi from the northern part of the town.”
Inside the village, the bandits rode along the main road, shooting as they advanced, sending residents fleeing into nearby houses and alleys.
“They followed the main road shooting until they reached the end of the town,” the community leader said.
The attackers then turned back and rode through the town again while continuing to fire.
It was during this second pass that several residents were shot, and shops were broken into, witnesses said.
They looted many shops, including a fabric store, a children’s clothing outlet and a cosmetics shop.
Residents said the bandits carted away goods, money and even mobile phones that had been left charging in the shops.
How the three victims died
All three victims were shot along the town’s main road as the attackers moved through the village.
A man who had just returned from Lagos was killed at the entrance of the town.
Another victim was sitting at a welder’s workshop and was shot while trying to run.
The third — believed to be deaf and without immediate family — was gunned down as he fled.
Two of the victims were married men.
Their bodies were buried the following morning.
Panic and a rare video
Residents said the sudden attack threw the village into chaos.
“In that kind of situation, nobody thinks about recording anything,” the community leader said. “Everyone was just trying to save their lives.”
Nevertheless, a short video recorded by a resident during the attack has circulated on social media, showing bandits firing as they moved through the streets.
Residents said the footage is one of the few visual records of the raid.
Local government, police respond
The chairman of Musawa Local Government Council cancelled an official engagement in Katsina and returned to coordinate relief efforts after learning of the attack.
Community members said injured victims were treated locally and at hospitals in Katsina.
The police have confirmed the attack.
Police spokesperson Abubakar Aliyu said a distress call was received at about 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday reporting that bandits had attacked the village.
According to the police, 14 people were injured during the raid, but three later died while receiving treatment.
The Commissioner of Police has ordered an investigation to identify and arrest those responsible.
Peace deal under scrutiny
The raid has raised questions about a local reconciliation arrangement with armed groups in Musawa Local Government Area.
The initiative, locally known as “sulhu,” was introduced in parts of Katsina State to reduce bandit attacks through dialogue and community agreements.
A community leader said the arrangement covered several communities across the local government area.
In some cases, groups involved in the agreement had helped track criminals who stole livestock or raided villages.
“If someone steals cattle or other property, the people we reconciled with can pursue them and return the items to the owners,” the source said.
Local authorities suspect the attackers responsible for the Jikamshi raid may not belong to groups involved in the reconciliation arrangement.
“We suspect they may be from other places,” the community leader said.
Officials say investigations will determine whether the attack represents a breach of the reconciliation agreement or the actions of a different armed group.
Attacks heighten fears
The Jikamshi raid comes days after a similar incident in Dangani town, also in Musawa Local Government Area.
Residents said dozens of bandits stormed the community in a daytime raid last Friday shortly before Juma’at prayers.
A resident told PREMIUM TIMES that the attackers arrived on more than 70 motorcycles, smashing phone shops, seizing mobile phones from charging stations and snatching phones from residents they encountered.
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“The vigilantes could not confront them because there were too many. Everyone was running,” the resident said.
No deaths were reported in the Dangani raid, but residents say the incident has heightened fears in nearby communities.
A village in mourning
By Wednesday morning, residents of Jikamshi gathered to bury the three victims killed during the raid.
For a community that had largely escaped the worst of Katsina’s bandit violence, the shock is still sinking in.
Many now fear the violence creeping across the North-west may have finally reached their doorstep.
