The chairman of Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State, Ado Musa Faskari, has confirmed the killing of two residents and the kidnapping of two females by bandits who stormed Mairua community yesterday evening.
Faskari, in a BBC Hausa interview, disclosed that the assailants targeted Alhaji Lado Mairua’s home while the Ramadan Tarawih prayer was being observed on Saturday night.
Lado Mairua, said to be a politician and a businessman, was among those killed in the onslaught. Lado’s neighbour, who raised the alarm upon realising what was happening, also got killed by the hoodlums.
Narrating the ordeal To BBC Hausa, Faskari said: “The hoodlums asked the congregation: “Where is Alhaji Lado?” He (Lado) answered, “I am here.” Then they demanded that he follow them but he refused. So, they shot and killed him.”
Faskari also confirmed that Lado’s wife, Hajiya Rabi and his 15-year-old daughter, Maryam, were abducted by the hoodlums, compounding the family‘s tragedy.
“This makes it the second time Hajiya Rabi will be kidnapped by bandits,” he noted.
According to Faskari, the attack is already causing residents to despair, as they now live daily in constant fear of the hoodlums.
He said: “These bandits have several camps in our locality and they now attack us almost on a daily basis. Even yesterday, they invaded Malalai village, killed two persons and went away with women. A soldier was also killed around Ruwan Godiya yesterday,” he lamented.
“We are calling on the federal government to look into our plight,” he pleaded. “This situation is proving to be beyond what we can handle.”
He called for a more aggressive approach, stating that: “There’s a need to invade their hideouts and arrest them. If not, this insurgency will never end. They have devised several ways and means of attacking our communities; either while we are breaking our fast or praying, and several others.
“The road that leads to Gusau from here is attacked daily. Even the road from Ruwan Godiya to Kankara has been abandoned completely as a result yet residents here are still not safe.
“Frankly speaking, Faskari LGA is in a terrible situation. We need serious prayers and more security personnel to be deployed to the area to conquer these bandits, not security personnel that will come and try to secure the community but those that will go after the bandits in their enclaves and defeat them,” Faskari told BBC in the interview.
