By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Katsina
Panic gripped Gurbi community in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State after armed gunmen launched a deadly attack, leaving more than 10 people feared dead and several others injured.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attackers stormed the area earlier in the evening but initially failed to gain entry into the town as local vigilantes and residents had mobilised to defend the community.
According to him, after failing to breach the village, the gunmen turned on fleeing residents, chasing and shooting at them along the outskirts of the community.
“As I speak, there are more than 10 corpses in Nagodi area, a village in front of Gurbi, and the bodies are being brought back to Gurbi,” the resident said.
He lamented that security operatives had been alerted ahead of the attack following rumours of an impending invasion, but no immediate response came until after the killings.
“We informed security personnel when we heard about the planned attack, but they only arrived after our people were killed and started evacuating the bodies,” he added.
Another source close to the palace of the Gurbi community leader confirmed that residents had prepared for the attack after receiving intelligence, making it difficult for the assailants to enter the main settlement.
The source, however, said the attackers succeeded in ambushing residents who fled in fear, killing several people before retreating into the forest.
Kankara has remained one of the flashpoints of renewed bandit attacks in Katsina State. Just three days earlier, gunmen reportedly attacked Zangon Kankara, setting two houses and a vehicle ablaze and abducting two persons.
As of press time, neither the Katsina State Police Command nor the Office of the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr. Nasiru Mu’azu, had issued an official statement on the latest attack.
