Angry residents of Tashar Danjanku in Malumfashi Local Government Area, Katsina State, blocked the Katsina–Kano highway to protest a night raid by bandits that left one person dead and about 20 others abducted.
Frustrated by ongoing insecurity and what they describe as inadequate action from security agencies, protesters barricaded the road with burning tires, bringing traffic to a standstill.
SaharaReporters had earlier said community leaders and council chairmen from Charanchi and Batagarawa local government areas held a “peace meeting” with a group of armed men identified as bandits.
At that meeting one of the armed men told residents the violence and kidnappings were driven by wider political decisions, not only local actors.
“It was the government that wanted us to engage in banditry, but now it has called us and told us to stop. Therefore, by God’s grace, we have stopped from today,” the man said.
He added that if the government wants insecurity to end it has the power to do so, and claimed attempts to begin peace talks over the past two months only succeeded recently because the government located them.
Residents say the recent raid and the perceived failure of authorities to protect communities forced them to take to the highway in protest.
