Renewed banditry in some parts of Katsina State has worsened and continues to raise concerns and uncertainty. This is just as Nigerians contend with the rising cost of living and hardship caused by the fuel subsidy removal by this present administration last year.

The recent attack still fresh in the minds of many, was the kidnap of 62 women during a wedding as they escorted the bride to her matrimonial home in the Damari community of Sabuwa local government of Katsina State. The hoodlums vowed to remarry the bride if a ransom of N100 million was not paid to release the abductors.

Similarly, the bandits also attacked Kukar Babangida village, Jibia local government area within a space of one week, killed nine residents including the village head, and abducted three students of a private University in the state.
Also, the bandits attacked a military checkpoint and Police outpost in Batsari local government area, ambushed and killed several security operatives, especially members of the vigilante and the Community Watch Corps (CWC) set the by the government who have recently become their target.

Also agonising are the several instances of bandits attacking motorists on the highway, opening fire on moving vehicles that refuse to stop, while abducting innocent civilians in the state within the first quarter of this year.
Remember that hundreds of children in Katsina State, recently took to the streets, a fallout to several attacks on different villages in the state by bandits. The action generated a lot of reactions and condemnation from well-meaning individuals, who blamed the government for allowing the situation to degenerate to the level where minors took protest as an option.

According to the protesters in the Wurma community, they were left at the mercy of the bandits who consistently attacked them and took away food and other valuables.
“Wurma village, a big farming community is completely deserted. Security personnel are nowhere to be found. Our parents are being slaughtered like animals.

“We are helpless and that is why we are crying out to the whole world to come to our rescue. The government has abandoned us”, a protester said.

But Katsina State governor, Mallam Umaru Dikko Radda, while hosting the commissioner, of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons Agency (NCRMIDPA), Tijjani Aliyu Ahmed, in his office, said already additional military personnel have been deployed to troubled areas after he had spoken with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu concerning the situation of the state.

Culled from Leadership Newspapers