Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina State Government has vowed to provide relief materials for victims of bandits’ attacks in Tsauwa and Dankar communities in Batsari Local Government Area of the state to assuage the suffering of those who survived the invasion.
The state Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, who disclosed this Monday while on condolence visit to the affected communities, said the state government will also drill three boreholes in the areas in order to mitigate the challenges of water scarcity.
This is even as residents of the affected communities debunked what they termed inflammatory by some people that the attack was a reprisal. They insisted that they had no skirmishes with any militia group or bandits.
The attack by bandits on motorcycles led to the death of 30 persons in the communities last Friday and left many others with varying degrees of injuries.
The hoodlums also set houses ablaze, killed animals and rustled unspecified number of cattle, rendering many homeless.
Masari, who was irked by the attack orchestrated by the assailants, lamented that food items and other valuables of the victims were burnt to ashes.
He attributed the inability of successive administrations to provide basic education for rural dwellers and other inhabitants of the state as the bane of banditry and kidnapping bedeviling the state.
He said: “Most of your food stuffs were burnt to ashes. If not because of illiteracy facing the bandits, how can you burn people? Even rats needed not to be thrown into fires not to talk of infants.
“I assure you that food materials would be made available to you between today (Monday). We will drill three boreholes and build at least one school for you to ease your difficulties.”
Earlier, the village head of Tsauwa, Ibrahim Zangina, told the governor that 180 motorcycles carrying about two or three bandits stormed the village while residents were observing their Magrib prayers and shot sporadically, stressing that some were shot dead while observing the prayer.
He explained how infants were being taken from their mother’s lap and thrown into fire by the bandits, describing the attack as first of its kind in the state.
The traditional ruler however dispelled the information that the attack was a reprisal, saying they have no previous record of fighting with any militia group or bandits.
