Panic has gripped residents of Yan Kwada village in the Faruruwa community of Shanono Local Government Area, Kano State, after bandits launched a fresh attack on Sunday evening, abducting five women, including nursing mothers.

According to local sources, the heavily armed assailants stormed the village in large numbers, firing gunshots into the air to scare residents before breaking into homes and seizing their victims.

“They came as usual, shooting sporadically and breaking into houses,” said a resident who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “They abducted five women, including nursing mothers. We couldn’t do anything because they were many and heavily armed.”

The source further revealed that two of the abducted women later regained their freedom under unclear circumstances, while three others remain in captivity.

“Two of the women have returned, but three are still with the bandits. We don’t know their condition or where they were taken,” the resident added.

The latest attack comes barely a week after a joint military operation reportedly engaged bandits in a fierce gun battle in the same area, killing 19 of them. Despite that operation, locals say the threat of further attacks remains high.

“People here live in constant fear. Many villages have been deserted because of these attacks,” another villager lamented. “Some of us have relocated to Faruruwa town or even to the cities just to stay alive.”

Residents are now calling on security agencies and the Kano State Government to intensify patrols and sustain military presence in the border communities between Kano and Katsina States, where bandit incursions have become frequent.

As of press time, police authorities in Kano had yet to issue an official statement regarding the latest incident.

(Channels)