Zamfara State Police Command has confirmed the killing of four persons by bandits in a fresh attack in Katsira village of Gusau Local Government Area of the state.
In a statement on Friday, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Mohammed Shehu, said four persons were ambushed and killed by the bandits who came to the community to rustle cows.
He said, “On March 12, 2020, around 7.30pm, a large number of armed men on motorcycles stormed the village and rustled cows belonging to the villagers. A group of local militia known as Yansakai who pursued the rustlers was ambushed and four members of the Yansakai including their commander popularly known as Bala Maigora were killed. Others sustained gunshot injuries.”
Shehu said the bandits had fled before the arrival of a combined team of policemen and men of Operation Hadarin Daji.
He stated that the combined team of security personnel had been drafted to the area with a view to arresting the perpetrators of the crime.
But in an interview with City Round, an indigene of the area, Mallam Muhammad Katsira, said 10 people were killed by the bandits and 12 others seriously injured and currently receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Gusau.
Muhammad said the bandits were pursued by the people of the area whose cows were rustled in a bid to retrieve their animals.
He said, “The bandits who were moving with cows ambushed the villagers near Katsira village, leading to the death of 10 people on the spot.
“Twelve persons who sustained various degrees of gunshot injury have been rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Gusau.