Zamfara Bandits’ Leaders Relocating to Katsina, Residents Cries Out

By Verior Baure, Katsina 

Residents of Faskari and Kankara Local Government Areas of Katsina State have said bandits’ leaders from Zamfara State are fleeing to the state due to the continued military incursion.

The residents, who disclosed this in an interview with BBC Hausa, said the bandits’ kingpins identified as Aleru and Kwashan Garwa have taken over Malali and Marafa forest in Faskari local government. 

Although their names were not mentioned by BBC, the residents explained that the bandits’ leaders and their accomplices were responsible for the upsurge of banditry and other nefarious activities in the area.

“Bandits leaders like Aleru, Kwashan Garwa and their boys have relocated from Zamfara to Katsina. They have taken over Malali and Marafa forest in Faskari local government area”, one of the residents said.

He added that the hooligans have turned some villages in the area to their enclaves where they hide to launch fresh onslaughts on neighbouring villages in Kankara, Faskari and Danmusa.

Decrying the ruffians’ “daily attacks” on communities in Faskari and Kankara local governments, the residents called on government and security agencies to smoke out the fleeing hoodlums from the forest and deal with them.

But the State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr. Nairu Mu’azu, while confirming the relocation of the bandits’ kingpins to Katsina, said security agencies will soon eliminate them.

He said: “Yes, bandits are entering Katsina from some parts of Zamfara and Kaduna States and are regrouping in Faskari, Kankara, Zango and Dansabau.”

He, however, said security personnel comprising police, military and members of the Katsina Community Watch Corps, have been deployed to forest in the areas to flush out the criminals.