Katsina to Inaugurate Panel of Inquiry to Probe Killing of Vigilantes by Terrorists
Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina State Government has said it will inaugurate a commission of inquiry to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the killing of vigilantes in Kankara Local Government Area of the state by suspected terrorists last Thursday.
The Special Adviser to Governor Aminu Bello Masari on Security Matters, Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed-Katsina, who disclosed this Friday night while addressing some journalists at his residence in Katsina, said the government would also assist families of the victims.
THISDAY had earlier reported that terrorists ambushed and killed 44 vigilantes in Gidan Gamji village, Danmaidaki ward of Kankara Local Government Area of the state.
But the spokesman of the state Police Command, SP Gambo Isah, while confirming the incident, said those killed were members of the outlawed Yansakai (volunteers) group from 11 villages in Bakori Local Government Area who were tracing the footpaths of hoodlums to Yargoje forest.
Isah, in a statement he issued to journalists Friday evening, further said the terrorists planned and launched a coordinated ambush on the Yansakai, while “the hoodlums shot and killed forty-one (41) Yansakai and wounded two”.
However, Ahmed-Katsina while briefing journalists on the incident, said many terrorists were among those killed during the fierce gun duel between the vigilantes and the marauding hoodlums.
He explained that the commission of inquiry would also investigate the rationale behind the killing, ascertain those behind it and what led to the “shocking, sad and unfortunate incident” in the area.
Besides sympathising with the victims and their families, he said the state government would adopt revolving security measures to ensure that it unmasked the factors responsible for the incident and take appropriate actions to curtail future occurrence.
He stressed that combined security personnel deployed in the scene of the incident have restored normalcy in the area and were making frantic efforts with a view to arresting the perpetrators of the heinous act.
He said: “His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari is concerned with the development and has directed that a commission of inquiry and investigation panel be set up to identify the immediate and remote causes of the incident in order for us to be more proactive in addressing these challenges.
“All of you are aware Katsina State has been stabilised for some time, so this incident has upturned the successes we have recorded and the government will not allow it to go like that. We are bringing succour to the families of the victims.
“This incident had come to us as a rude shock, very sad and unfortunate that is why besides sympathising with the victims and their families, the state government is going to do the needful by ensuring that it unmasked the factors responsible for the incident and taking appropriate actions.”
Masari’s aide urged residents of the state to desist from taking laws into their hands and always report suspicious movement of persons to security agencies and work with them to sustain peace and tranquillity in the state.
