About 105 people were attacked and brutally killed and several others injured in Faskari local government area of Katsina state, some hours to the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the state.
Blueprint gathered that the attackers invaded five communities on Wednesday night and yesterday morning.
An eyewitness who craved anonymity told our reporter that the killers, who operated on motorcycles, stormed the communities in the early hours of Wednesday night. He said five of the attackers were killed by the communities as a way of defence and the attackers took away their corpses.
The source said the attackers used guns and axes in killing the victims, using over 50 motorcycles with three people on each bike one riding and two shooting with guns.
The eyewitness, who also witnessed the burial of 49 people at Maigora village and Sabon Layin Galadima yesterday afternoon, said the victims included women and children.
Our findings revealed that 40 people were killed in Marabar Maigora, 28 in Maigora village, 21 in Sabon Layin Galadima, while 8 and 7 people were killed in Kurar Mota and Unguwar Doka villages respectively.
Another source said the attackers had been operating in the area for the past six months but the latest one was the worst.
According to him, the unknown gunmen have rendered over 5,000 people homeless in the area.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Katsina has strongly condemned the attack during a press conference yesterday.
The party’s state caretaker Chairman, Arch. Ahmed Dangiwa described the killing as a total war against the state.
He said: “It is unfortunate that both the state governor and President Jonathan did not bother about the killing, but rather proceeded with their activities of the president’s visit”.
The APC leadership urged Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema to suspend the presidential visit and sympathise with the victims and their families.
It also called on the state government to, as a matter of urgency, rescue the situation and assist the victims immediately.
