The police in Katsina confirmed on Monday that nine persons were killed by suspected bandits at Rugar Kusa village in Musawa Local Government Area of the state.

The police said that 16 other persons sustained varying degrees of injuries when the assailants attacked Muslim faithful celebrating the Maulud in the community on Sunday.

This is contained in a statement in Katsina by the spokesman of the command, ASP Abubakar Sadiq-Aliyu.

He said: “On November 5, at about 10:30 p.m., suspected armed bandits in their numbers, wielding dangerous weapons such as AK-47 rifles and shooting sporadically, attacked the Maulud procession.

“Upon receipt of the report, immediately, operatives were mobilised and swung into action, where they succeeded in repelling the attack.

“Seven people were shot dead at the scene, and 18 others sustained gunshot wounds and were evacuated to General Hospital Musawa for immediate medical attention,” he said.

He said that two out of the 18 injured persons were later confirmed dead by a medical doctor while receiving treatment at the hospital.

Mr Sadiq-Aliyu said the police had intensified efforts to arrest the perpetrators while investigations into the case were still ongoing.

(NAN)