Bandits have killed 10 persons in Kirtawa village in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Confirming the killings, the Public Relations Officer of the Katsina State Police Command, SP Gambo Isah, said that the bandits launched a fresh attack on Saturday, where they injured an army officer and a Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps officer, five civilians and set five vehicles ablaze.
In a press statement issued by Isah in Katsina Sunday, he said the hoodlums numbering 300 on motorcycles armed with dangerous weapons invaded the village and rustled numerous animals belonging to residents of the area.
He said: “The DPO Safana initially led teams of Operations ‘Puff Adder’ and Sharan-Daji to the scene and engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel. In the process, the hoodlums shot the tires of the police Armoured Personnel Vehicle and injured one soldier and one Civil Defence personnel.
“At the time the combined ground forces were mobilised into the village, the hoodlums had already operated and escaped into the forest. Ten (10) persons were found dead, five (5) injured, five (5) motor vehicles and four (4) motorcycles were set ablaze.”
While describing the invasion as a reprisal orchestrated by the bandits against the community, the police spokesman said that joint security forces have been deployed in the area to restore peace and unravel the fleeing hoodlums.
Isah assured residents of the state that government and security operatives were mapping out formidable strategies towards containing and bringing to an end the menace of banditry bedevilling the state.
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