Gunmen open fire on 17 hunters in Buhari’s Katsina, kidnap 25

No fewer than 17 hunters have been killed while 25 others have been abducted by bandits operating at Tsayau Forest in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State on Monday.

One of the hunters, who pleaded for anonymity, disclosed the incident, saying, “We confirmed that 17 have been killed… some of the people who went there to look for their relatives told to us that they have seen 17 corpses.”

The hunters had mistakenly entered the hideouts of the gunmen while hunting. The bandits had chased them, killing 17 people instantly and taking away 25 others.

The hunter said the captors have demanded a ransom of N50 million but when they said they could not raise such amount, they told them to go to the government and collect it.

He said of the 17 bodies, one was buried there because the body decomposed near the settlement of the gunmen.

“We call on the government to assist us in rescuing the hunters. On Sunday evening, they called and said if we don’t need them, they will kill them,” the hunter pleaded.

The hunters were said to have come from various towns, including Katsina, Tsagero, Abukur, Kanyar Uban Daba, Mashi, Fadi Gurje, Ku Tare Dandagoro, Muduru and villages of Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State.

However, the police spokesman in Katsina, SP Gambo Isah, said there were conflicting reports on the incident.

Katsina is one of the states where terrorists and gunmen are making life difficult for residents.

Ironically, about a month ago, Auwalun Daudawa, the notorious leader of a group of bandits, alongside five lieutenants, who have terrorized most states in the northwest and neighboring states, repented and surrendered 20 AK47 rifles, one rocket-propelled grenade and a large amount of ammunition to the Zamfara state government.

Daudawa who is believed to be the mastermind of the abduction of the 344 students from the Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina State in 2020, had sworn alongside his lieutenants that they would never kill again nor kidnap in the state and elsewhere.