President Muhammadu Buhari has described as despicable, the revenged killing of 33 farmers in his home state of Katsina, northwest Nigeria.
Authorities confirmed that bandits killed the farmers and burnt their houses in Damkal and Tsanwa villages in Batsari local government area of the state at the weekend.
Pained by the incident, Buhari through Mr Garba Shehu, his Senior Special Assistant (Media & Publicity), said on Sunday that killing people in the name of revenge was not acceptable.
Reacting to the incident in which many homesteads were razed the President warned that “no one in the country has a right to take laws into his hands by the way of self-help or revenge.
“Local communities that catch bandits should hand over the suspects to law enforcement authorities instead of meting out capital punishment, leading to a cycle of revenge and counter revenge.”
He urged community leaders and the local authorities to continue their efforts in partnership with law enforcement agencies that bring the surrender of bandits, leading to peace between farmers and herders.
“The authorities must be allowed to investigate and deal with any breach that occurs. There is no place for violence in a decent society,” said the President.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Katsina police command, Mr Gambo Isah, confirmed that the incident happened on February 14, 2020 with explanation that the bandits, in motorcycles, invaded two villages to revenged the killing of some of their gang members.
The bandits killed 21 persons in Tsauwa village and the remaining persons were killed in Dankar village.
The police and the military, he said, were able to arrest one bandit and recovered nine motorcycles belonging to the hoodlums.
More policemen and the military personnel have been deployed to the areas to protect the communities.
