Nigeria: Islamic jihadis murder six people, abduct over 50 others in Katsina state
My contacts in Nigeria inform me that these “gunmen suspected to be bandits” are Islamic jihadis. Their behavior confirms this, in that they abduct people rather than simply kill them all.
“As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, ‘When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks’ (Qur’an sura 47, verse 4)” — Al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance).
BREAKING: Bandits Kill Six Persons, Abduct Over 50 Others In Katsina
Sahara Reporters, April 7, 2025:
At least six persons have been killed by gunmen suspected to be bandits in Dandume Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Residents told SaharaReporters that the bandits stormed the village on Monday morning.
It was learnt that on arrival at the village on motorcycles, the gunmen started shooting indiscriminately, resulting in the death of the six victims.
The gunmen also reportedly abducted about 56 villagers.
“Bandits just kidnapped 56 persons at Dandume in Katsina State and killed six persons this morning; we’re on our way there now for reinforcement,” a security source confirmed the incident to SaharaReporters.
When SaharaReporters contacted the spokesperson for the state police command, ASP Abubakar Sodiq Aliyu, for confirmation and comment, he requested a text message, stating, “Can’t talk now. Please text me.”
However, he had not responded to the message sent to him as of the time of filing this report….
Gunmen kill at least 56 people in central Nigeria
Attacks believed to have been carried out by nomadic cattle herders killed at least 56 people in central Nigeria in one night, the Benue state governor's office said Saturday. Competition over land use has long been a source of tension between largely Muslim pastoralists and largely Christian farmers.
Gunmen killed at least 56 people earlier this week in central Nigeria's Benue state, the governor's office said Saturday, sharply revising a previous toll of 17.
Clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farmers over land use are common in central Nigeria. Governor Hyacinth Alia had earlier blamed the attacks in the Ukum and Logo local government areas on "suspected herdsmen".
With many herders belonging to the Muslim Fulani ethnic group, and many farmers Christian, the attacks in Nigeria's so-called Middle Belt often take on a religious or ethnic dimension. Two attacks by unidentified gunmen earlier this month in neighbouring Plateau state left more than 100 people dead.
"The death toll has jumped to 56 from the attacks as at the last count," Solomon Iorpev, the governor's media advisor, told AFP following Alia's visit to the scene.
Haram and ISWAP are 'on their last legs', Nigerian information minister says
The attacks happened Thursday night into Friday, sparking the deployment of security forces.
The government-owned News Agency of Nigeria reported over the weekend that the country's defence minister was visiting Plateau state.
Back-to-back massacres – more than 50 people killed in two districts – in Plateau state this month have marked a serious escalation in the state, with authorities scrambling to contain the attacks in a region where ethnic tensions have long simmered.
Plateau state authorities have claimed the killings were part of a "genocide" that was "sponsored by terrorists".
Critics say that rhetoric masks the true causes of the conflict – disputes over land and a failure by authorities and police to govern the countryside.
Since 2019, the clashes have claimed more than 500 lives in the region and forced 2.2 million people to leave their homes, according to research firm SBM Intelligence.
A local herder group denounced the Plateau state killings while also noting that its own members have been under attack by farmers.
Land grabbing, political and economic tensions between local "indigenes" and those considered outsiders, as well as an influx of hard-line Muslim and Christian preachers, have heightened divisions in Plateau state in recent decades.
When violence flares, weak policing all but guarantees indiscriminate reprisal attacks.
Across the wider Middle Belt, including in Benue, land used by farmers and herders is coming under stress from climate change and human expansion, sparking deadly competition for increasingly limited space.
Noting that "Benue is strategic for Nigerian food security," Iorpev called on the federal government to step in.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
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| The Muslim genocide is moving southward across Nigeria |
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