Panic swept through the Yankamaye community in the Tsanyawa Local Government Area of Kano State after bandits reportedly stormed the area on Monday evening, killing five residents and leaving four others injured in a fresh wave of attacks linked to bandits operating along the Kano-Katsina border.
Residents said the attackers, numbering more than 30, invaded the community around 6pm on motorcycles, firing gunshots indiscriminately as terrified villagers fled for safety.
The assailants were said to have crossed into the community from Rimaye village in neighbouring Katsina State before launching the deadly attack.
A former Vice Chairman of Tsanyawa Local Government Council, Ado Haladu Yankamaye, confirmed the incident, saying the victims were buried on Tuesday morning according to Islamic rites.
According to him, all those killed were men, many of whom were family breadwinners with large households.
“All those killed were men, some with as many as 10 children. Only one of them was a youth who was not yet married,” Daily Trust quoted Yankamaye as saying.
“The attackers stormed the town on motorcycles, divided themselves into different corners, and shot sporadically.
“It was God who saved us. Most of the victims were killed while trying to run away. They didn’t kidnap anyone.
“Security personnel are still moving into the town, but people remain apprehensive. Many did not sleep there last night due to fear.”
Yankamaye lamented the worsening insecurity in the area, revealing that the latest attack was the second assault on the community within five months.
The former council official recalled that during an earlier invasion, bandits abducted four women and killed one resident, raising fears among locals that the community had become increasingly vulnerable to attacks from armed groups operating in neighbouring Katsina State.
He blamed the delayed security response on the remote location of the community, noting that residents were often left exposed whenever attacks occurred.
Yankamaye called on the Kano State government and security agencies to deploy a stronger security presence to the border communities to prevent further bloodshed.
Another resident, who spoke anonymously, said the gunmen arrived on about 12 motorcycles, with three armed men riding on each motorcycle.
“They crossed from Rimaye in Katsina and started shooting in the town before they were eventually overpowered. People have gradually started returning to their homes after fleeing yesterday,” the resident said.
The attack has further heightened fears among residents of Yankamaye, a border settlement between Kano and Katsina states that has repeatedly suffered raids by bandits over the past year.
Confirming the incident, the Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said police operatives and members of the Joint Task Force had been deployed to the affected area.
He added that security agencies had launched efforts to track down and arrest the perpetrators behind the attack.
The latest killings occurred less than a week after suspected bandits, also believed to have entered Kano from Katsina State, attacked Mainika village in Gwarzo Local Government Area, killing one resident and rustling more than 300 cattle.
The repeated attacks have intensified concerns over deteriorating security across border communities in northern Nigeria, where armed gangs continue to raid villages, kill residents, abduct victims, and steal livestock with little resistance.
