The Katsina State government says it will investigate the killing of 41 people by terrorists in the Yargoje forest, Kankara Local Government Area of the state.

Ahmed Ibrahim-Katsina, the Special Adviser to Governor Aminu Masari on Security Matters, disclosed this after a review of the incident on Saturday in Katsina.

According to him, the incident that also left two people injured jolted everybody, including Mr Masari.

“The governor is very sad and has directed immediate reinforcement of security in the area.

“He has also directed that a commission of inquiry be instituted on the incident.

“We want to unravel the full circumstances surrounding the incident apart from what the preliminary investigation has revealed,” the adviser said.

He added that Mr Masari also directed that relief materials be immediately despatched to the families of the victims.

“The government is already on top of the situation in the area and we want to assure residents of the state that the government places a high priority on their security and safety.

“From the strategies that we are adopting, we strongly believe that this incident will be the last in the state.” Mr Ibrahim-Katsina said.

The security adviser said preliminary investigation had shown that the 41 victims who died in the ambush included some of the terrorists.

“The outcome of the commission of inquiry would assist us in taking far-reaching decisions in preventing future occurrence of such ugly incidents,” Mr Ibrahim-Katsina said.

The victims, who were members of local security groups, ran into an ambush on Thursday when they went after some terrorists who rustled some livestock. 

(NAN)