Suspected bandits stormed rural communities in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State late Friday night, killing at least four residents and abducting no fewer than 12 others, security sources said.
The renewed assault occurred despite recent peace efforts between authorities and armed groups. Local residents and a Katsina-based security expert, Malam Bakatsine, told SaharaReporters that the assailants emerged at about 9:00 p.m., firing sporadically as they moved through the villages of Dan Nakwabo and Madobai, spreading fear and forcing families to flee into nearby bushes.
In Dan Nakwabo village, the gunmen “killed two people, a man and a woman, identified as children of a well-known local businessman, Alhaji Dan Azimi,” the report said. The attackers also “abducted two other residents during the raid.” In neighbouring Madobai, no deaths were recorded, but four residents were taken before the bandits retreated into the forests.
By Saturday morning, funerals were being held “according to Islamic rites amid grief and anger in the community,” and residents lamented that the violence “completely shattered the little sense of safety people believed had returned following talks between bandits and authorities.” The repeated attacks underscore ongoing insecurity in Katsina State, where negotiations have failed to halt violence and kidnappings.