Reign of terror: Bandits hold northerners by jugular, spread deaths, traumatise women

“I was there when my father was killed by bandits and I will avenge his death,” were the words of Umar Mohammed, when reacting to the killing of his father by bandits in their Magami Village in Katsina State.
“My father was killed in my presence,” he said further, with a note of grief. “It is by the miracle of God that I’m alive today. I would have been killed. I was very close to our grinding machine at home. My father was trying to collect some vegetables when I heard the sound of the gunshot.”

Visibly hurt by the incident, he lamented further, “Yes, I know those who killed him. They said if they caught me, they would kill me, so I decided to run away, and my mum didn’t know where I ran to.”

In an interview that has since gone viral, Umar narrated how he ran to another community in the heat of the attack. He said when he reached Dandabi, he was with his brother and when he heard gunshots, he ran away, praying for God’s intervention.
Despite the fate that had befallen him, Umar’s dream of being educated remains intact. “I want to enroll in school to stop my mother from going into the forest,” he stated. “I want her to remain at home and even if she stops going to the forest, she has to look for what we will eat.”

Umar’s experience aptly captures several of such incidents in the country, especially in the northern region.
It was gathered that the assailants also abducted one female student simply identified as Ajoke, an ND II student of Science Laboratory Technology. Students, who sustained varying degrees of gunshot injuries, were said to be receiving treatment at a hospital in the state.

The victims, Freedom Luka and Ogwuche Janet, said to be students of HND l Public Administration and HND II Business Administration and Management respectively, as well as one Danladi Nicholas said to be seeking admission.
From Zamfara to Kaduna, Katsina and some other states, students have been abducted by the bandits. Students, staff and residents have at different times drawn the attention of the authorities to the polytechnic’s porous security but with no response from any quarters until the bandits struck.

In Kaduna State, where there are several military formations, not much has changed in terms of security. Recently, bandits were said to have invaded Anguwar Dandali in the Zaria Local Government Area of the state, killing four people and injuring five.
Confirming the incident, the village head of the area, Mallam Sunusi Yusuf told our correspondent that the suspected bandits arrived around 10.30 pm on Friday night and started shooting aimlessly into the air.

He said the bandits succeeded in shooting nine persons and abducting five others before the arrival of security operatives who engaged them in a gun battle. “Out of the nine persons shot, four instantly died while five sustained serious injuries. Due to the superior power of the security operatives, the bandits after shooting their victims retreated into the bush, abducting four other persons,” he disclosed.

Saturday PUNCH gathered further that the four abducted victims were later intercepted by members of a vigilance group at Jaji in Igabi Local Government Area on Saturday morning and were rescued and reunited with their families.

A distraught Musa Tanko, the head of the ward, said residents had been thrown into panic and serious grief over the spate of attacks which had continued to increase within the vicinity.
“This is becoming very alarming as the activities of the bandits in the vicinity are widening in scope to other parts of the community,” he said.

Also in the Southern Kaduna area of the state, suspected terrorists reportedly killed six persons in the Takanai community of Atyap Chiefdom in the Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The attack occurred barely five days after an earlier attack was launched in Kaura where a woman was killed and two of her children kidnapped.
The acting Secretary to the district head of the community, Mr Samson Markus, who confirmed the sad incident to The PUNCH recently, revealed that the terrorists invaded the village at around 7 pm and started shooting, killing four people in the same compound and two others in another family compound.

According to him, two children were among the victims of the deadly attack. He added, “We were going about our normal business when we heard gunshots. We thought it was the military at first until we saw that it was suspected Fulani who came in from Zango Urban.”
“Before the military arrived, they had succeeded in killing six persons, including two children. We appeal to the government and the military to redouble their efforts and declare war against these terrorists who invade villages and kill innocent people randomly.”
The situation is not different in other parts of the region, including Gombe State, where the police command confirmed the kidnapping of two persons in Shabewa community, Dukku Local Government Area.

Our correspondent, who visited the Kogi State Specialist Hospital Lokoja, Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja, and some hospitals within the state capital, noticed that some doctors were not at their duty posts to attend to patients.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association in the state, Dr Olusola Baoku, noted that medical practitioners had always been the target of the criminal elements as he lamented that over 48 doctors had been kidnapped in the last two years across the country.
Baoku equally bemoaned the impression that medical doctors were very rich and as such should be subject of kidnapping for ransom.
In Sokoto State, no fewer than three separate attacks were recorded within two weeks, leaving more than three persons killed with two others sustaining varying degrees of injuries when suspected bandits attacked Soro and Dutsi communities in Binji LGA.
The spokesperson for the police in the state, ASP Ahmad Rufa’i, said the suspects invaded the community to rustle their animals and steal foodstuffs. He added, “Information available to the command was that the suspects arrived at the community with the aim of stealing their foodstuffs, among others. The villagers in conjunction with security agents on patrol, including men of the Nigerian Army and policemen, engaged them in a gun duel before they ran away. Unfortunately, when they realised they could not overpower the security agents, they set the village on fire which led to the destruction of many foodstuffs in the community.”

Also, in Giyawa community in Goronyo LGA, bandits in two separate attacks killed more than five persons. It was learnt that one person was injured, four persons were still in captivity while 25 others captured by the bandits regained their freedom.
He said the police were in touch with the local government chairman on how to find a lasting solution to the situation, adding that the state government was doing its best to end banditry and other criminal activities across the state.