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Katsina vigilante kills notorious bandit leader, delivers his head to emir’s palace

The notorious bandit leader, who had been terrorising Batsari town in Katsina, was killed on Friday.

• September 25, 2022
Bandits
Bandits

Special forces of Civilian Joint Task Force vigilante group in Katsina have beheaded a notorious bandit leader popularly known as ‘Solar’.

The notorious bandit leader, who had been terrorising Batsari town in Katsina, was killed on Friday. 

In a gory video which has gone viral, the vigilante members were seen parading the local community, displaying the severed head of the dreaded bandit in wide jubilation before depositing it at the Emir’s palace. 

Locals in Katsina nicknamed the notorious terrorist ‘Solar’ due to his broad daylight operation in the Jibia and Batsari communities.  

Solar is said to be in control of the armed bandits troubling northern Nigeria, especially in a vast forest of Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger states, where he had carried out uncountable numbers of abductions.

States in the North-West geopolitical zone including Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna have been ravaged by banditry in the last two years.

The nefarious activities of the marauders have also spilled into the North-Central and other zones of the country.

Katsina, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, more specifically has been bedeviled with insecurity especially kidnapping for ransom by the armed bandits. 

The armed bandits have killed hundreds of innocent persons while kidnapping several others including schoolchildren for ransom.

Earlier in January, the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Kabir, decried the criminal activities of armed bandits in many local communities of the state.

The monarch immediately declared that the only way to end the menace of banditry bedeviling Katsina and the country at large is by “killing bandits” whenever they are caught.

“I am really troubled, so is our governor here but I am very happy now that they have been officially declared terrorists. So, you catch and kill them. That is the only solution since dialoguing with them has failed.

“How can someone kill 20 to 30 person and be taken to the correction centre? It will not augur well. If he comes out, he will go back to his old ways,” the emir, who has been speaking against banditry told vice-president Yemi Osinbanjo during a visit to Katsina. 

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