Communities in Kadobe and surrounding areas of Jibia, Katsina State, had enjoyed more than a year of relative peace under an alleged agreement with notorious bandit leader Audu Lankai. That calm has now been shattered after a deadly clash between local vigilantes and Lankai’s fighters left at least 15 people dead.
Speaking in a phone interview from 1:08 with News Central TV, Lankai claimed he was the one who came under fire first and had no choice but to fight back. “When they called me about the incident, I headed out to find out what happened. The vigilantes were lying down and they opened fire at me and my boys and I retaliated. So you don’t expect me to watch them shooting at me and then not protect myself. And I’m not sure I can let this go because they didn’t honour the agreement,” he said.
With the peace deal now in tatters and Lankai signalling he may not stand down, residents of Kadobe are living in fear of further attacks. The community is urgently calling on the authorities to deploy security forces to the area and protect lives before the situation deteriorates further. Read_More…