Katsina: Terrorists Kill, Abduct Many in Fresh Attack

 

Nine persons including a former local government caretaker chairperson, Dauda Mai Iyali, were killed when terrorists attacked Danmusa, the headquarters of Danmusa Local Government in Katsina State on Sunday.

The terrorists also abducted several people in an attack that began around 8:00 p.m. and lasted several hours, residents of the town claimed.

The spokesperson of the police in the state, Abubakar Sadik, however, told PREMIUM TIMES that five people were killed while five others were abducted.

He said the police are trying to rescue those abducted.

“Five persons were killed and five were kidnapped. The command is making a frantic effort to ensure the unhurt rescue of the kidnapping victims and the arrest of the perpetrators.

Further development will be communicated, please,” Mr Sadik said in a message to this newspaper.

Residents speak

A resident of Danmusa, who asked for anonymity for safety reasons, said the terrorists blocked all entries and exits of the town.

“The terrorists came immediately after the late evening prayer (Isha’i). Two of my neighbours who were sitting outside were killed. They entered our house and took away all our mobile phones. We were lucky, we ran out of the house quickly before they (terrorists) entered.

He said he spent hours in the bush alongside his family members.

Another source, who also sought anonymity for security reasons, said several people including his uncle were abducted.

“They didn’t only kill people during the attack, they also wounded others and abducted many people. In this house, my uncle was among those taken. We’ve not counted the number of those abducted yet because several people also ran into the bush to avoid being killed,” the source said.

When this reporter called around 10:00 a.m. on Monday, a community leader said those killed were being buried.

We’ve nine corpses now,” he said. “We don’t know if there are other corpses in the bush because they (terrorists) kept shooting to kill and wound.

In recent weeks, Nigeria’s North-west region has come under heavy terrorist attacks including the abduction of university students in Zamfara and Katsina states.

In between those attacks, there were attacks in the Binji Local Government Area of Sokoto and another on the Magami-Gusau highway that led to the killing of 10 road users.

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