The Katsina State Police Command on Wednesday said that the death toll from the attack on a mosque located at Unguwar Mantau Community in the Malumfashi Local Government Area of the state has risen to 17.
According to the Command’s spokesman DSP Abubakar Sadiq, .
“Fifteen people fatally shot, seven injured, later while receiving treatment at the hospital, two out of the seven succumbed to their injuries,”
But the lawmaker representing Malumfashi Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Aminu Ibrahim, claimed that 30 worshippers were killed during the attack.
Ibrahim ,who spoke during plenary said
the attacks occurred in Gidan Adamu Mantau, Unguwar Yar Mai Dabo, and Makera villages in the Karfi ward of the Malumfashi Local Government Area, stating that the Burdigau community in Yaba ward was also under siege.
“By dawn on Tuesday, the bandits struck, killing 30 worshippers during morning prayers at Unguwar Mantau,” said the lawmaker.
The lawmaker, therefore, appealed to the House and the state government to urgently deploy security personnel to establish permanent bases in Karfi and Yaba wards to restore peace and protect residents.
“The situation has become unbearable. Our people can no longer live in their villages because of these relentless attacks,” Ibrahim said
The bandits reportedly stormed the Mosque and opened fire on worshippers on Tuesday morning during the (Fajr) .prayers.
The State Government through the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasiru Mu’azu, in a statement on Tuesday, described the incident as “a reprisal attack”
“The incident occurred when criminal elements launched a reprisal attack on the community. The Muslim members of the community were praying in the mosque during the Fajr prayer when the criminal element started shooting sporadically in the mosque.
“The attack was in retaliation for the community’s successful defence efforts two days earlier.
“The people of Unguwan Mantau decided to lay an ambush against the bandits and killed many of them. They rescued victims taken from Ruwan Sanyi village, seized 3 motorcycles, and 2 AK-47s. The security agencies are now on the ground in Unguwan Muntau to restore normalcy,” Mu’azu said
