The police authorities in Katsina State have confirmed the death of 17 persons, including members of a vigilante group and one police officer. They were killed when bandits attacked Diskuru village, Dandume LGA of the state.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations officer in Katsina, SP Gambo Isah, said the bandits were on a reprisal in the village.
"Last week, the bandits came, and they didn't find it easy with the villagers, because about three of them (bandits) were killed.
"So they went and regrouped and came back, over 200 of them on motorbikes, each carrying AK-47 rifle; they even came with a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG)," DailyTrust quotes Isah to have said.
Isah added that the bandits killed at least 12 of the villagers and set many houses ablaze.
He said the DPO of the local government learnt about the situation and called for reinforcement from the military, Operation Sahel Sanity.
"Based on the intelligence that we had, we learnt that the bandits were going to pass through a cattle route that went into Faskari LGA.
"So we alerted the officers there, and they laid siege on the hoodlums and they, fortunately, ran into the siege," he said.
He, however, said due to a large number of the bandits, they engaged in a gun duel with security operatives and forced themselves through the ambush.
"As a result of that, one of our security personnel lost his life, and the bandits killed four of the vigilantes. Reinforcement from the Air force was sought, and they came and followed after the bandits.
"The report I have here with me was that so many of them were killed by the fighter jets and our officers are still there combing the forest with the view to recovering the corpses of the bandits," he added.
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