Police in Katsina State have confirmed that no fewer than 10 persons including an Imam, his assistant, and children, have been killed by bandits in fresh attacks on Shau and Ruwangodiya villages of Faskari Area council of Katsina State.
The separate attacks on the two villages according to the source, were carried out on Sunday at about 6 pm, when most of the victims were returning home from their farms.
He said the bandits stormed Shau village first on 60 motorcycles with at least 3 armed men shooting sporadically, killing 8 people, razed property, and rustled an unspecified number of cows, belonging to the residents before proceeding to Ruwangodiya village for another attack, where 2 persons were killed.
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The source added that, during the attack, several villagers sustained injuries from gunshots, while many of them, mostly women and children still unaccounted for in the affected communities.
The bandits also set ablaze the vehicle of the village head of Shau, his house and many other houses in the village.
The Police command spokesman SP Gambo Isah while confirming the attacks said that the combined security operatives were drafted to the area but the hoodlums had escaped to the nearby forest due to the cumbersome nature of the place. Isah added that efforts are ongoing to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book, saying normalcy has since been restored in both villages.
(Edited by Tunde Orebiyi)