Farmer-herdsmen clash leaves 10 dead in Katsina

About 10 people have lost their lives, with several others injured, following a clash between herdsmen and farmers in Gora, a village in Safana Council of Katsina State.

The Guardian gathered that trouble started on Tuesday evening when a farmer tried to resist a herder with his animals from encroaching into his farmland.

But when he was countered, a scuffle ensued, leading to the farmer’s death.The villagers, on learning what had happened, mobilised and went after the herder and killed him.

Gora is close to the Rugu forest, where suspected bandits were said to hiding. And Rugu extends into several states of the country including Zamfara, Kaduna, Kano and Sokoto.

Some of the bandits, on hearing about the death of the herdsman, invaded the village from the forest. This reportedly led to the death of about 10 villagers.The incident came on the heels of abduction of hapless citizens in some parts of the state by the suspected bandits.

In neighbouring Zamfara, hardly a day passes without reports of the bandits’ atrocities against innocent people.With the invasion on the village, it was learnt that the area had been deserted.

The situation led to the deployment of several security operatives to the area, to check the incident from escalating.Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, SP Gambo Isah, confirmed the incident.He said that security personnel had been deployed to the area, including reinforcement from the Inspector General of Police (IGP), mobile police from 27 PMS and three additional units from the command.