News is emerging of a horrifying attack in Katsina State, that has left about 17 people dead.
The attack took place in a mosque in Unguwan Mantau, in Malumfashi Local Government Area, this last Tuesday.
Eyewitnesses say several gunmen on motorbikes stormed the mosque during the Fajr, or dawn prayers and started shooting sporadically at the unsuspecting worshippers.
Authorities believe the brutal assault was likely in retaliation after villagers ambushed and killed bandits earlier at the weekend, a grim act that escalated already volatile tensions.
The Katsina State Commissioner for Internal Security, Nasir Mu’azu, confirmed that army and police units were deployed to Unguwan Mantau to prevent further bloodshed as gunmen reportedly exploit the rainy season’s cover to launch attacks
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, via a statement on social media, decried the violence as an “epidemic”—a chilling marker of the country’s deteriorating security state. He said the “wanton killings of innocent Nigerians have reached epidemic level” and called for urgent protection of citizens.
The tragedy compounds an unfolding humanitarian and security crisis across Katsina State. In the State House of Assembly, Chief Whip Ibrahim Dikko was moved to tears while detailing successive attacks on farmers in Matazu, with five killed one day and seven the next, turning fields into death traps and pushing communities into despair
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The killings are just one thread in a larger tapestry of suffering.
The health charirty Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF, reports that 652 children have died of severe malnutrition in Katsina in the first half of 2025—a 208% surge from 2024—driven by conflict‑induced displacement, food insecurity, and cuts in international aid.
(Editor: Ena Agbanoma)
