A fresh invasion by bandits has unsettled several communities in Shanono and Tsanyawa Local Government Areas of Kano State, leaving three innocent villagers killed.
The emerging security threat follows a series of bandit incursions from Katsina State, unleashing untold terror on Kano communities sharing borders with the neighbouring state.
A resident of Tsanyawa Local Government Area, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The Guardian that the attack occurred on Friday evening when about 20 bandits invaded Yanganau village in Tsanyawa area of Kano.
The source said the bandits, who crossed over from the Kogari village of Katsina, later moved to Shanono communities, where they killed three people after an encounter with the joint security task force on patrol.Meanwhile, a community leader, Professor Muhammed Dauda, who spoke with journalists on Saturday, lamented that residents of three communities in Shanono Local Government Area can no longer sleep with their eyes closed.Dauda,
who hails from Kuraku village in the Faruruwa community of Shanono Local Government Area, decried the escalating bandit attacks despite security interventions.According to him, the Goron Dutse, Makama, and Tsaure areas near Faruruwa have been gripped by fear due to the growing insecurity caused by bandit incursions from Katsina.
“We thought the presence of soldiers, civil defence, and other paramilitary forces, including the JTF, would solve the issue, but it’s still the same, it’s like we are challenging them.
“As I’m talking to you, in the last three days, we have suffered attacks in places like Unguwar Tsamiya, Yaudari, and Yan Ganau. People have been killed and some abducted, including women.“Our people now sleep elsewhere for fear of attack; they’ve abandoned their homes. Some who fled to urban centres cannot return.
We are urging the President and the new military leadership to critically review this situation and secure our borders with Katsina.“Gwarzo and Tsanyawa are also in serious danger because of their proximity to Katsina. The Kano State Governor must take this matter seriously and ensure the borders are properly secured. If urgent action is not taken, the bandits will eventually penetrate deeper into Kano,” Dauda lamented.
A few days ago, the Kano State Police Command, in a press statement, announced the arrest of two suspected bandits terrorizing Shanono Local Government Area after an intensive raid.
This development followed an earlier alarm raised by the Chairman of the Shanono Community Security Committee, Alhaji Yahaya Umar Bagobir, who reported the killing of seven people and the rustling of about 70 cows in communities under Shanono.Bagobir had revealed that the bandits had kidnapped 10 residents and extorted over ₦15 million in ransom from the predominantly Fulani communities.
The matter has since attracted the attention of the Kano State House of Assembly at Tuesday’s plenary, when Dr. Ali Lawan Kiyawa, a member representing Shanono stats Constituency, and Garba Ya’u Gwarmai, representing Ghari/Tsanyawa Constituency, called on security agencies to intensify efforts to protect the affected communities from further attacks.
