Banditry: 33,130 victims take shelter in Katsina IDP camps
Recent attacks by bandits have forced 33,130 people to take shelter in various Internally Displaced Persons camps in Katsina State.
Most of them are survivors of bandit attacks on their villages, communities and farmlands in eight local government areas of the state.
A document made public by the Katsina State Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday revealed that out of this number, 20,868 were children; 8,886 females, while 3,376 were adult males.
A local government by local government breakdown revealed that Katsina accounted for 1,415 of the victims; Batsari, 18,418; Fasakari, 4,875; Jibia, 477; Danja, 135; DanMusa, 4,827; Kankara, 1,433; and Safana, 1,550.
Investigation revealed that the victims were those in designated camps located in the various local government areas.
In Katsina, for instance, the victims are being camped at the Gidan Barki behind the Katsina General Hospital.
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The spokesman for the SEMA, Mallam Umar Mohammed, who confirmed the development to Northern City News, said the agency was doing all it could to provide the victims with food and medical care.
He said some of the victims often leave the camp for their various villages but do return for fear of being attacked by bandits.
Mohammed stated, “The agency has been taking care of the victims and the state government has been providing the necessary support.
“Some of the victims, at times, leave the camps for their various villages and communities but once they learn that the bandits have threatened to attack again, they return to the camps.”
The spokesman for the Katsina State Police Command, SP Gambo Isah, insisted that the bandits had been decapitated, adding that attacks by them were not as frequent as they used to be.
He said, “The command, in conjunction with other sister security agencies, has decapitated the bandits.
“They are not carrying out attacks as they used to. What they do these days is to swoop on individuals on their farms; they don’t carry out attacks on communities again. This notwithstanding, we are bent on sending them away from Katsina.”
