Armed bandits, Wednesday morning, killed a divisional police officer, A. Rano, in Jibia local government area of Katsina State during an attack on Magama section of Jibia town.
Multiple sources told PREMIUM TIMES through the phone that the bandits arrived at the area around 3 a.m. and laid siege to it for three hours, despite resistance by security agents and vigilante members.
One of the sources, an APC chieftain in the area, Mustapha Danye, said the bandits were in the village to kidnap the family of a businessman in Magama Jibia.
Magama is the main business part of Jibia. The town lies a few kilometres from the border with Niger Republic.
“The bandits stormed Magama Jibia in the night (morning of Wednesday) around 3 a.m. and went straight to the residence of Alhaji Lauwali Magama to kidnap his family. They abducted the wife of the businessman and their daughter but their neighbours alerted the police who mobilised vigilante members and soldiers to the area.
“The bandits came in a large group and positioned themselves in strategic areas of Magama, which helped them to ambush the DPO,” he said.
A source in the Jibia police division said the vehicle in which Mr Rano was being taken to the community was ambushed.
“He was in a car with two soldiers and some policemen going to bring reinforcement for some of our men because the bandits were shooting from all corners. The vehicle was sprayed with bullets and the DPO died instantly,” he said.
He added that two police officers and a civilian were killed while two soldiers were severely wounded.
Gambo Isa, the state police command spokesperson in Katsina, confirmed the killing of the police officer but asked this reporter to wait for his statement on the incident.
Katsina State has witnessed frequent bandits’ attacks since the beginning of this year.
The most recent ones include the killing of a village head and four others in Yan gayya and at least 12 people in Ilela villages.
Ten people were killed and a village head was abducted on Tuesday in Guga village of Bakori local government area.