The Katsina State Police Command has confirmed the killing of 10 persons by bandits at Zango Village in Kankara Local Government Area.
A statement issued by the command’s spokesman, SP Gambo Isah, confirmed the incident, adding that the bandits also injured five other persons during the attack.
It said 200 bandits dressed in army camouflage uniforms and riding on motorcycles stormed the village, shooting sporadically.
Isah said the bandits rustled unspecified number of animals, set the house of the village head and two vehicles ablaze, noting that following the attack, three women from the village were still missing.
“The police mobilised officers to the scene of the attack, but the bandits had escaped into the Rugu forest when they arrived,” the statement reads.
It also noted that the state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), Sanusi Buba, urged the people to remain calm and assured that the police and other security agencies were on top of the situation.
“The team also searched the bush around the village and arrested one Abdullahi Bawa, 22, a Fulani and a suspected bandit, but the whereabouts of three women is yet unknown,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, Chairman, Editorial board of The Nation Newspapers, Sam Omatseye has sought the creation of Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) and deployment of drones in the Southwest to checkmate kidnappers and bandits.
He said the success in the war against Boko Haram terrorism in the Northeast was made possible by civilian JTF that former Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima constituted.
He argued that the issue of bombings and killings in the Northeast, particularly in Borno State could have persisted, but for fearlessness of the locals who were coopted into the JTF for robust intelligence gathering.
Omatseye spoke during a lecture titled: To Secure, First We Love: Herdsmen, Kidnappers, Boko Haram and the Climate of Fear, organised by the Faculty of Arts, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti.
Omatseye, who was represented by the Obanla of Ijesa Isu-Ekiti, Oba Gabriel Oso Adeniyi, charged all Nigerians to see security as everybody’s business and not the sole responsibility of government and security agencies.
“With each afraid of the other, we can’t stop banditry, or herdsmen crisis or even Boko Haram. We need a leadership of fairness and fearlessness.
“What did former Borno State governor Kashim Shettima did to drive out Boko Haram among the people? He used civilian JTF. We need drones for intelligence gathering as the military has failed us,” he said.
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