The New Experience Newspapers Online News Indepth, Analysis and More
The Katsina State Police Command has confirmed the killing of 10 persons by
bandits at Zango Village in Kankara Local Government Area.
A statement issued by the command’s spokesman, SP Gambo Isah, confirmed
the incident, adding that the bandits also injured five other persons
during the attack.
It said 200 bandits dressed in army camouflage uniforms and riding on
motorcycles stormed the village, shooting sporadically.
Isah said the bandits rustled unspecified number of animals, set the
house of the village head and two vehicles ablaze, noting that following
the attack, three women from the village were still missing.
“The police mobilised officers to the scene of the attack, but the bandits
had escaped into the Rugu forest when they arrived,” the statement reads.
It also noted that the state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), Sanusi Buba,
urged the people to remain calm and assured that the police and other
security agencies were on top of the situation.
“The team also searched the bush around the village and arrested one
Abdullahi Bawa, 22, a Fulani and a suspected bandit, but the whereabouts of
three women is yet unknown,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, Chairman, Editorial board of *The Nation* Newspapers, Sam
Omatseye has sought the creation of Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) and
deployment of drones in the Southwest to checkmate kidnappers and bandits.
He said the success in the war against Boko Haram terrorism in the
Northeast was made possible by civilian JTF that former Governor of Borno
State, Kashim Shettima constituted.
He argued that the issue of bombings and killings in the Northeast,
particularly in Borno State could have persisted, but for fearlessness of
the locals who were coopted into the JTF for robust intelligence gathering.
Omatseye spoke during a lecture titled: To Secure, First We Love:
Herdsmen, Kidnappers, Boko Haram and the Climate of Fear, organised by the
Faculty of Arts, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti.
Omatseye, who was represented by the Obanla of Ijesa Isu-Ekiti, Oba
Gabriel Oso Adeniyi, charged all Nigerians to see security as everybody’s
business and not the sole responsibility of government and security
agencies.
“With each afraid of the other, we can’t stop banditry, or herdsmen
crisis or even Boko Haram. We need a leadership of fairness and
fearlessness.
“What did former Borno State governor Kashim Shettima did to drive out
Boko Haram among the people? He used civilian JTF. We need drones for
intelligence gathering as the military has failed us,” he said.
