Governor Aminu Masari’s Special Adviser on Security Matters, Mallam Ahmad Katsina, made the disclosure on Friday night after a review of the incident.
He said, “The incident jolted everybody and His Excellency, Governor Aminu Masari, is very sad about it. Firstly, he has directed the reinforcement of security in the area. He has also directed that a commission of inquiry be instituted on the incident. We want to unravel the full circumstances surrounding the incident apart from what the preliminary investigation has revealed. His Excellency has also directed that relief materials be immediately despatched to the families of the victims.
“The government is already on top of the situation in the area and we want to assure residents of the state that government places priority on their security and safety. From the strategies that we are adopting, we strongly believe that this incident would be the last in the state.”
Katsina revealed that the preliminary investigation had also shown that the 41 victims who died in the ambush included some terrorists, too.
He urged people not to take the laws into their hands, adding that the group of local vigilante known as Yansakai who wanted to recover rustled animals ought to have carried along security agencies in view of the ruthlessness of the terrorists.
“The outcome of the commission of inquiry would assist us in taking far-reaching decisions in preventing future re-occurrences of such ugly incident,” Katsina assured.
The PUNCH reported that a gang of terrorists, on Thursday, ambushed some Yansakai members who attempted to recover some rustled domestic animals in locations between the Bakori and Kankara Local Government Areas of the state, resulting in the deaths of the 41 persons, among who were some terrorists.
Trouble was said to have started on Wednesday when the terrorists invaded a house in Bakori Local Government Area from where they rustled the animals.
The Yansakai members subsequently mobilised themselves from eleven villages in Bakori Local Government Area with a view to recovering the rustled animals.
Some informants, however, alerted the terrorists about the action and they (the terrorists) subsequently laid ambush for the Yansakai, leading to the bloody confrontation and the deaths.
A statement on the incident by the spokesman for the Katsina State Police Command, SP Gambo Isah, which was also made public on Friday evening, read, “On Wednesday, 1 February, 2023 at about 11 p.m., terrorists in their numbers, shooting sporadically with AK 47 rifles, attacked the house of one Alhaji Muntari, at Unguwar Audu Gare, Kandarawa, Bakori Local Government Area and rustled fifty (50) cows and thirty (30) sheep.
“Subsequently, on Thursday, 2 February 2023, at about 10:00a.m. Yansakai outlawed group, from eleven (11) villages from Bakori Local Government Area regrouped and went after the terrorists with a view to recovering the rustled domestic animals. They traced the footpaths of the hoodlums to a location at Yargoje forest.
“Unfortunately, the terrorists planned and launched a coordinated ambush on the Yansakai. The hoodlums shot and killed forty-one (41) Yansakai and wounded two (2). Area commander, Malumfashi, led a team of policemen to the scene and recovered the corpses and injured to Kankara General, Hospital.
“A joint security operation is currently ongoing with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book. Investigation is ongoing, please.”
