Gunmen kill two, abduct six in Katsina

TRACKING_____Gunmen suspected to be bandits have killed two people and abducted six others in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

One person was killed and two others abducted early Sunday morning at about 1:30 am at Bilbis village, while another resident was killed and three kidnapped in Yantuwaru community, in wee hours of Saturday morning.

According to a resident, gunmen in their numbers riding on motorcycles stormed Bilbis, shooting sporadically and operating for about an hour.

“They entered the home of a young man, one Ashiru Umaru and shot him at close range in the leg; they also abducted his wife and one of his sons,” an eyewitness said.

He, however, said that the victim didn’t immediately die after he was shot as he was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

He added that it was while at the hospital that Umaru died after losing much blood.

“They also abducted a major shop owner, broke into several homes and carted away valuables, including food items, animals, monies and phones,” he said.

At Yantuwaru community, the bandits killed one person and abducted three others during an operation that was said to have lasted more than an hour.

Like other states in the northwest, Katsina is faced with security challenges brought about by activities of bandits, especially in frontline councils of the state.

The bandits’ modes of operation include killing and maiming of residents, as well as animal rustling, rape and abduction of victims for ransom.

While incidents of banditry had greatly reduced due to military operations, pockets of attacks have, however, been reported in some parts of the state.

A spokesperson for the state’s police command, SP Gambo Isah was yet to respond to call and text messages to his phone number as at the time of this report.