Gunmen kill seven persons, abduct five women in Katsina

• Residents protest over incessant killings, abductions
• Tension in Wase as Taroh community alleges threat of attack

No fewer than seven people were killed and others injured following the attack on two villages in Faskari Local Council of Katsina State.

Both incidents occurred on Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. in Unguwar Ibrahim Maiwada and Kanon Haki.

A resident, who claimed anonymity, said the gunmen operated from around 9:00 p.m. till early morning hours in Unguwar Ibrahim Maiwada before they went to Kanon Haki along Zaria-Sokoto Highway”.

Another resident also said that the gunmen killed two persons at Unguwar Ibrahim Maiwada, adding that five women were abducted and taken into the dreaded Rugu Forest.

MEANWHILE, worried by incessant killings, abduction and rustling in their communities, several angry residents yesterday barricaded the Funtua-Sheme Road to protest over the security situation.

The protesters, who burnt tyres and used stones and other materials to block the road, were said to have condemned incessant attacks on their communities by suspected bandits, which often led to the loss of lives, among other atrocities.

IN another development, there is palpable tension in Wase Local Council of Plateau State over a looming threat of attack on the Taroh ethnic nationality by mercenaries.

The Taroh community, under the aegis of Ngwang Ishi O’taroh Wase Branch, raised the alarm yesterday, even as it urged the security agencies to redouble their efforts in nipping in the bud the impending threat.

Spokesman of the association, Sunday Miri, warned against suppressing the truth, saying that Taroh Nation will no longer take any rumour of such magnitude for granted, owing to the previous antecedents where such rumours turned out to be true.

“You will recall that an alarm was recently raised by the Chairman of Langtang North Local Council over an alleged planned attack against Taroh land. He stated how mercenaries in their numbers were already in Wase Local Council and moving towards Kadarko in Wase and Langtang North local councils to attack its Taroh population. He called on security agencies to come to the rescue of the people then.

“A week later, a response came from some youths in Wase condemning his utterances and called for his arrest as he was branded an agent of destabilisation.

“Another group under the auspices of Plateau youth stakeholders also repeated the call by Wase youths and called the Chairman names as security matters turned into politics.

“As a body, we watch closely and we are monitoring events as they unfold. About a month ago, after dispelling the rumours, the incident of kidnapping happened around the Gimba-Pin axis in which a Fulani housewife was kidnapped with her child by these same mercenaries or bandits. Attempts by local vigilantes and locals to rescue the woman led to several deaths,” he said.

He, therefore, urged the security agencies to step up strategies not to allow another bandits’ threat to occur around the area, expressing fears that it could result in another ethno-religious crisis in Wase and the southern zone of Plateau State at large.

He, however, urged the communities living along with the areas, especially the Taroh-speaking tribe, to co-operate with the security forces by giving them useful information to enable them effectively contain the growing menace of bandits in Wase.