Katsina lawmaker laments ‘alarming’ rate of killings, kidnappings in Buhari’s state
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the latest round of attacks on farmers by bandits in Damkal and Tsanwa villages in Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State.
At least 30 people were killed in the attacks on the two communities, the police said on Saturday.
The president was quoted in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Sunday.
Mr Shehu said the president was reacting to the incident in which many homesteads were razed by fire with many people killed in the affected areas at the weekend by the bandits.
Mr Buhari, who warned that “no one in the country has a right to take laws into his hands by the way of self-help or revenge”, added that ”killing people in the name of revenge is not acceptable.
”Local communities that catch bandits should hand over the suspects to law enforcement authorities instead of meting out capital punishment, leading to a cycle of revenge and counter revenge,” he said.
He urged community leaders and the local authorities to continue their efforts in partnership with law enforcement agencies that bring the surrender of bandits, leading to peace between farmers and herders.
“The authorities must be allowed to investigate and deal with any breach that occurs. There is no place for violence in a decent society,” he said.
Mr Buhari prayed God to comfort families that had lost loved ones in the attacks and repose the souls of the victims.
The Attack
Bandits kill 30 in 2 Katsina villages –Police.
The Police in Katsina State confirmed that 30 persons were killed by bandits in Batsari Local Government Area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Gambo Isah, who confirmed the incident on Saturday, said that the victims were killed in Tsauwa and Dankar villages in the area.
He said the bandits invaded the two villages riding on motorcycles on Friday night and begun to shoot residents of the two villages.
According to him, the bandits killed 21 persons in Tsauwa village and the remaining nine persons were killed in Dankar village.
He, however, said that the police and the military were able to arrest one bandit and recovered nine motorcycles belonging to the hoodlums.
Mr Isah said that additional policemen and the military were deployed to the areas with a view to protect the communities around.
He said the State Commissioner of Police, Sanusi Buba, had paid a visit to the affected areas for an assessment of the situation, with a view to preventing further occurrence and trail the bandits to their hideouts in the bush.
The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that the majority of those killed were the aged and children who could not run for their life.
The bandits burnt down many houses including animals and foodstuffs in Tsauwa village.
Katsina is one of the North-west states that have suffered attacks by bandits in recent years.
Hundreds of people have been killed and many others kidnapped in such attacks in Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna and Jigawa states.
