Bandits kill two community leaders in Katsina

Armed bandits on Tuesday night killed two elderly community leaders in an attack on Doguwar Ɗorawa, a community two kilometres from Guga in the Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Join the Premium Times WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.

Open in WhatsApp

The incident is the latest in a series of violent raids on rural settlements in Bakori communities despite the state government’s much-publicised “peace accord” with bandit groups.

A prominent community leader in Guga, Mahadi Danbinta Guga, confirmed the attack in a telephone interview with our reporter on Wednesday morning.

“We had a gruesome attack yesterday. Doguwar Ɗorawa lost two of their most influential elders — Alhaji Bishir and his brother, Alhaji Surajo. They were slaughtered, not shot, during the attack,” he said.

Mr Guga said the assailants invaded the community around 10 p.m. and operated for over an hour. He noted that he was on his way to the village for the burial of the slain elders and to verify the number of casualties.

“Many people were abducted during the attack,” he added.

‘A Normal Thing’

According to residents, the attackers are suspected to be either from the camp of a notorious bandit leader identified as “Idi Abasu Aiki” or “Kwashen Garuwa.”

Stay Ahead with Premium Times

Add as a preferred source on Google

Both have been terrorising parts of Bakori and neighbouring local government areas for long.

“They parked their motorcycles in the bush and trekked to the village to unleash mayhem on the locals,” Mr Guga explained, describing the attack as “gruesome.”

He lamented that such raids have become routine despite the state’s ongoing dialogue with armed groups.

“It’s a normal thing to the bandits in the area. A day hardly passes without communities being attacked despite the so-called peace deal,” he said.

In a separate incident on the same night, bandits also raided Layin ‘Yannehu, another community in the area, rustling several livestock.

The fresh attacks follow similar assaults reported in Ganjar, Alhazawa, and Gidan Nagari in late October, where at least 43 residents were abducted, forcing hundreds to flee their homes.

READ ALSO: Two soldiers, 19 bandits killed in Kano firefight

Government Silent

As of Wednesday morning, officials of the Katsina State Government and the Bakori Local Government had yet to comment on the incident.

Efforts by our reporter to contact the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs and the Commissioner for Information were unsuccessful, as calls and messages to their known phone numbers were not answered.

The continued silence from authorities has deepened residents’ frustration in the face of persistent insecurity that has displaced thousands across Katsina’s southern belt.