No fewer than 10 persons die and dozens of others injured sustained varying degrees of injuries when bandits and Nigerian Police clashed at a village in Batsari Local Government, Katsina State.
Among the 10 casualties, eight were bandits killed by Nigerian Police when its officers stormed Zamfarawa village to stop the bandits from attacking residents in the state.
The police officers were said to have arrived minutes after the bandits stormed the community, and killed two persons that were identified as Shafi’i Suleiman and Yakubu Idris.
As gathered, the law enforcement team was informed of the bandits’ presence by residents and after their arrival, the suspects resisted but minutes after could not withstand the firepower from the police who also recovered 30 cows from them.
Confirming the attack, the state government commended the efforts of the military and other security forces in the restoration of gradual peace in the front line LGAs worse affected.
Addressing pressmen, Special Advisor to Governor on Security, Ibrahim Ahmad, said the government is optimistic that banditry will soon be a thing of the past in the state.
“As you can observe, in spite of the pockets of challenges to the security operations, most of the affected communities have gradually gone back to farms and going about their normal activities. They are very few. They should not be allowed to hibernate and disturb our peace and security,” Ahmad said.
On the death toll, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Gambo Isah, through a statement on Saturday, stated that one of the bandits died on the spot while seven others died from gunshot wounds sustained during their resistance.
“The team succeeded and recovered thirty cows stolen from the village by the bandits. Subsequently, on 7/08/2020 search parties led by the DPO and members of the community led by the village head of Zamfarawa recovered additional seven more corpses of the bandits at Barankada village, Batsari LGA of Katsina State,” Isah said.
The police spokesman said items recovered from the dead bodies and the scene respectively during search include, 13 empty shells and two live ammunition of 7.62mm, charms, keys, a pair of slippers, and N22,300.
