Abuja – President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the February 2 killing of 41 vigilantes by bandits in Yargoje forest in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Buhari made the condemnation in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.
Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity signed the statement.
The President paid tribute to the late vigilantes and their families, saying that they have been martyred.
Buhari stated that the sacrifices of the ” brave men who are working to prevent and punish crime in their communities will not be forgotten.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families in this difficult period.
“May Allah repose the soul of the deceased,” Garba Sheu quoted Buhari as saying in the statement.
The Katsina State Police Command had in a statement on Friday, February 3 confirmed the killing of the 41 members of local vigilance groups, popularly known as “Yansakai”, in an ambush by terrorists in Yargoje forest.
Spokesman of the Command, SP Gambo Isah, made the confirmation in a statement.
“On Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, at about 22:00 hours, 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, and rustled 50 cows and 30 sheep.
“Subsequently, on Feb. 2, at about 10:00 hours, Yansakai groups from 11 villages in Bakori local government regrouped and went after the terrorists with a view to recovering the rustled animals,” Isah said.
The bandits in their large number and armed with sophisticated weapons , however, turned the heat in the vigilantes, overwhelmed them and killed 41 of them inside the forest.(vitalnewsngr.com)
