• Bandits kill 11 farmers, abduct others in Borno
• Don’t let our nation down, CDS tells troops
Dozens of persons have been killed following a terrorist attack on a Maulud procession by Muslim faithful at Kusa Village in Musawa Local Council of Katsina State.
The incident, which occurred at 11:00 p.m. on Sunday night, left more than 30 people injured, while 21 others were reported to have been abducted, including women and children.
There are discrepancies in the actual number of those killed. Residents said the figure was as much as 30 persons, while others said the number was higher.
Vice Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bala Ibrahim, who is from the council area, said 14 people were killed, while 17 others sustained bullet wounds.
The terrorists were said to have surrounded the venue of the Maulud procession and started firing gunshots into the crowd.
They also abducted several people and ostensibly moved them to the forest in the outskirts of the community area.
Spokesperson for the police command in the state, Abubakar Aliyu, who confirmed the incident, said two people died while receiving treatment, while 18 others sustained injuries.
IN another development, suspected Boko Haram terrorists on several motorcycles have killed 11 Zabarmari farmers in Mafa Local Council of Borno State.
According to a military source in Maiduguri, the farmers were killed on Sunday while working on their rice fields in Koshebe, Karkut and Bulabulin villages.
Also, a counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, yesterday, in Maiduguri, said that heavily-armed terrorists on motorcycles attacked the farmers while threshing their rice fields in the three affected communities.
Makama said that instead of the terrorists using guns to kill the farmers, they used cutlasses and knives to stab the victims to death.
MEANWHILE, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, has called on commanders and troops of the Nigerian Army not to let the nation down in the ongoing efforts to quell emerging security challenges across the country.
The CDS gave the charge, yesterday, during a visit to the Army Headquarters Operations Centre where he was briefed on operational engagements of troops in various theatres of operations in the country.
Musa, who commended the Chief of Army Staff (CAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja; principal staff officers, field commanders and troops for their dedication and sacrifice, admonished commanders at all levels to be focused, committed and professional in steering the affairs of their various commands to expedite the restoration of peace and stability in the country.
He also charged them to lead by example and provide result- oriented leadership and mentorship to junior leaders of the Nigerian Army.
The CDS, who urged the troops of the Army to remain resilient and ensure synergy and inter-agency cooperation in the conduct of their operations to mitigate security challenges, assured the troops of the support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
