A local official on Tuesday reported that armed individuals belonging to criminal gangs have fatally shot 13 Islamic seminary students during a ceremony commemorating the birth of Prophet Mohammed in the northwestern Nigerian state of Katsina.
Katsina is just one of the many states in northwestern and central Nigeria plagued by criminal gangs, commonly referred to as “bandits.” These groups routinely engage in village raids, causing harm and abducting residents, in addition to looting and setting homes on fire.
These gangs, with their large forest hideouts spanning across Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, and Niger states, have gained notoriety for their mass abductions of students from schools in recent years.
Late on Sunday, at approximately 21:30 GMT, a group of gunmen on motorcycles carried out an attack in Kusa village, located in the Musawa district. They opened fire on schoolchildren who were celebrating Maulud in the village center, as reported by Habibu Abdulkadir, the political administrator for Musawa district, in a phone conversation with media.
“The bandits opened fire on the gathering of pupils during recitations, they killed 13 of them and injured 20 others,” Abdulkadir said.
Five of the wounded individuals received medical treatment at the hospital in Musawa, while the remaining 15, who had more severe injuries, were transported to a larger medical facility in the state capital of Katsina, which is located more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) away, according to his statement.
“Our local vigilantes deployed in the village and confronted the bandits, forcing them to flee into the bush,” Abdulkadir said.
He further mentioned that the timely arrival of the vigilantes thwarted the attackers’ attempts to abduct additional pupils during the ceremony.
The violence in northwestern Nigeria originated from disputes between nomadic herders and settled farmers over land and resources, but it has escalated into more widespread criminal activities.
Local communities have established self-defense vigilante groups to safeguard their villages, while gangs engage in retaliatory actions against rival communities, frequently involving mass abductions for ransom or as a means of exerting pressure.
A police spokesperson verified the Katsina incident, stating that 18 individuals were wounded in the attack, with two of them succumbing to their injuries at a later time in the hospital.
In December 2020, bandits abducted 80 students from an Islamic seminary who were on their way back to Mahuta village after attending a Maulud celebration in a neighboring community located in the Dandume district.
The children were liberated by a joint effort of the police and local residents following a gunfight that took place at the hideout of the bandits, as reported by the police at that time.
Banditry and abductions are among the many challenges confronting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who assumed office in May with a pledge to address security concerns posed by criminal gangs, jihadists, and various armed factions.