Members of the local vigilante group known as Yansakai have launched attacks on nomadic communities in the area in response to a bandit attack in the Soro community of Binji Local Government Area in Sokoto State.
According to Daily Trust, the bandits’ assault resulted in the deaths of three individuals and the abduction of several others.
The Sokoto Police Command’s spokesperson, ASP Ahmad Rufa’i, confirmed the incident, saying, “Some gunmen suspected to be bandits launched an attack on the Soro community, but our gallant men, with the support of military operatives, repelled the attack.”
Rufa’i further explained, “The bandits out of frustration set some houses on fire as a result of which three of the residents lost their lives while few others sustained various degrees of injuries”
“There were reprisal attacks, but our men were able to calm the situation after the Police Commissioner, Ali Kaigama, sat with leaders of the two communities. The commissioner left four patrol vehicles behind to maintain law and order in the communities.”
Local sources claimed that the bandits struck Soro community at approximately 1 am on Monday, arriving in large numbers with livestock believed to have been stolen from other communities. The attack left three people dead and three more injured, with several individuals, including an entire family, being abducted.
Shortly after the bandit attack, the Yansakai group mobilized and launched counterattacks on neighboring Fulani communities.
They reportedly killed some individuals and set houses on fire during these retaliatory actions.
A resident of the area, who requested anonymity, mentioned, “There was a rumor that the Fulanis held a meeting a few hours before the attack.”
“So, our people suspected that was how the attack was planned because there had been an existing animosity between the two communities. As I am talking to you, many people have fled the affected villages for fear of reprisal attacks.”
However, after security operatives were deployed to the area, normalcy was restored to the communities.
