THE police in Katsina State on Wednesday said that the death toll from the attack on a mosque located at Unguwar Mantau Community in the Malumfashi Local Government Area of the state has risen to 17.
The spokesman of the Katsina State Police Command, DSP Abubakar Sadiq, who confirmed this to our correspondent, said 15 people were earlier fatally shot and seven injured by the attackers.
He said two out of the seven earlier injured later succumbed to their injuries while receiving treatment in hospital.
“Fifteen people fatally shot, seven injured, later while receiving treatment at the hospital, two out of the seven succumbed to their injuries,” Sadiq confirmed.
However, the lawmaker representing Malumfashi Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Aminu Ibrahim, claimed that 30 worshippers were killed during the attack.
He also raised the alarm over the worsening insecurity in his constituency.
While speaking emotionally during plenary, the lawmaker fought back tears as he narrated the ordeal of his people, whom he said now live under constant fear of bandits.
The attacks, he explained, occurred in Gidan Adamu Mantau, Unguwar Yar Mai Dabo, and Makera villages in the Karfi ward of the Malumfashi Local Government Area, stating that the Burdigau community in Yaba ward was also under siege.
Ibrahim further lamented that despite reports to security operatives between 6 pm and 7 pm on Monday, about suspicious movements of the bandits around Burdigau, the security agents only arrived at about 8 pm to 9 pm before withdrawing.
“By dawn on Tuesday, the bandits struck, killing 30 worshippers during morning prayers at Unguwar Mantau,” said the lawmaker.
He, therefore, appealed to the House and the state government to urgently deploy security personnel to establish permanent bases in Karfi and Yaba wards to restore peace and protect residents.
“The situation has become unbearable. Our people can no longer live in their villages because of these relentless attacks,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, the deceased have been buried in Malumfashi town.
The funeral prayer was attended on Wednesday by religious and traditional leaders.
It was also attended by community leaders as well as government and security officials.
The attack reportedly occurred during the early morning (Fajr) prayers when the bandits stormed the mosque and opened fire on the worshippers.
The Katsina Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasiru Mu’azu, in a statement on Tuesday, described the incident as “a reprisal attack” undertaken by the hoodlums after residents of the area had earlier confronted them.
“The incident occurred when criminal elements launched a reprisal attack on the community. The Muslim members of the community were praying in the mosque during the Fajr prayer when the criminal element started shooting sporadically in the mosque.
“The attack was in retaliation for the community’s successful defence efforts two days earlier.
“The people of Unguwan Mantau decided to lay an ambush against the bandits and killed many of them. They rescued victims taken from Ruwan Sanyi village, seized 3 motorcycles, and 2 AK-47s. The security agencies are now on the ground in Unguwan Muntau to restore normalcy,” the commissioner stated.