Barely 48 hours to the Saturday’s rescheduled presidential and National Assembly elections, bandits have sacked 10 communities, forcing over 2,000 residents to relocate from their ancestral homes in Batsari Local Government Area (LGA) of Katsina State.

The affected communities are Tudun Garin-Yara, Kwandatso, Garin Labo, Shigi, Sabon-Garin Dunburan, Garin Dodo, Inwala, Madattai, Sabon-Garin Shigi and Kasai.

THISDAY correspondent who visited Batsari Modern Primary School where the victims, mostly women and children, were relocated, gathered that the crisis started last Sunday in Kasai community but later spread to other nine villages between Monday and Wednesday, rendering thousands of residents homeless.

The attack, which claimed seven lives, including an army captain, also led to the abduction of many women and children who were declared missing after the invasion.

One of the victims, Inatu Labo who could not control her tears said: “We were asleep when the well-armed bandits numbering about hundreds attacked us. They killed some of our villagers and went away with our animals.”

Conducting THISDAY round the 12 classrooms occupied by the displaced persons, the Council Director of Education and Social Services, Kabir Abba Umar, said government had provided some palliatives in form of food items and sleeping materials to the displaced people.

“We have activated the temporary camps with profiling of the affected persons, and health personnel have been deployed to the camp. The local government has provided water tank, mats, blankets and buckets.

“As of yesterday, we registered more than 2,000 Internally Displayed Persons (IDPs) in this temporary camp and more are trooping in today. The displaced persons trek from their ancestral homes, which are about 10 to 15 kilometres away from Batsari.

“The local government area has also directed that provision of other requirements for camp operation should be giving to the displaced persons immediately”, he explained.

The last invasion by the bandits was coming barely one week after Governor Aminu Bello Masari’s visit to Kasai, a community where the attack was prominent, and called for harmonious co-existence among the residents.

•Excerpted from THISDAY report

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