No fewer than 1,600 orphans and 500 widows have so far been left behind due to the death of over 300 men as a result of current activities of bandits in Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State since the beginning of attacks last year.
The District Head of Batsari, Tukur Mu’azu, who stated this while speaking on the death of 15 farmers killed by bandits on their farmland at Yar’gamji village, called on both the Federal and State Governments to redouble their efforts towards finding lasting solutions to the security problems faced by the council.
Though the 15 farmers who were gruesomely murdered in their farmlands at Yar’gamji village have been buried while two other persons who sustained injuries were admitted in the hospital, it took the intervention of the District Head and other elders in the village to discourage the youths from carrying the corpses and present them to the Governor at the Government House.
Narrating how the attack occurred, Mu’azu said the farmers were busy cultivating when the bandits in their numbers came and started shooting at them without reason.
He also explained that the bandits did not only shoot at the innocent farmers but also burnt their bodies with the silencers of their motorcycles after each round of shots.
According to him, over four million cattle have also been rustled during the period of the attacks while thousands of orphans and hundreds of widows have been left behind with over 300 men murdered while, millions of properties destroyed.
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The District Head further confirmed that as a result of the attack on the farmers in their farmlands, residents of Yar’gamji have remained in their villages, he called for more beef up in security while seeking assistance from well meaning individuals.
Mu’azu also said out of the 11 wards with about 200 villages of the area council, only four of them ( Batsari, Wagini, Abado, and Ruma) can presently carry out farming activities.
He, however, calledon the government to do more in the area of security to ensure that the people do not die of hunger as they are in a serious dilemma.
(Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe)
