The number of people killed in an attack by bandits on some communities in Bakori and Kankara local government areas of Katsina State has reportedly risen to 84.
THE WITNESS had reported that bandits attacked and killed scores of vigilante group members and some residents in an ambush in Kankara Local Government Area of the state Thursday evening.
Though the initial report put the number of those killed at 41, residents of the affected communities had on Friday put the number at 58 and expressed fear that more corpses could be recovered from the area as others were still missing.
The victims, according to Daily Trust, were said to have mobilised to the forest in an effort to recover cattle rustled by terrorists who had earlier launched an attack on the community.
Sources said that unknown to the vigilante members and those who accompanied them, the terrorists who came through Bakori, were aware of their presence and they had already laid ambush for them, killing scores of them, Daily Trust reported.
Reports received on Saturday indicate that the number of people killed by bandits between the Kankara-Bakori axis in Katsina State has risen to 84.
It was learnt that 26 more dead bodies were recovered on Saturday evening by security operatives and some volunteers after combing the scene of the killings.
An eyewitness told Daily Trust on Sunday that he saw a vehicle at Yargoje junction moving 26 more dead bodies to Bakori communities.
Meanwhile, the Katsina State Government has said it will inaugurate a commission of inquiry to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the killings.
The special adviser to Governor Aminu Bello Masari on security matters, Mr Ibrahim Ahmed-Katsina, who disclosed this Friday night while addressing some journalists at his residence in Katsina, said the government would also assist families of the victims.
Contacted, police spokesman in Katsina, SP Gambo Isah said while some operations were ongoing in the affected areas, he was not in the know of the update.
“As soon as I get the update from our operatives, I will get across to update you, but for the time being, operation is ongoing in the area and we don’t have that update,” he said.