Katsina mosque attack: Death toll rises to 34

The death toll from Tuesday’s attack on worshippers at a mosque in Unguwar Mantau community of Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State has risen to 34, the state government said on Wednesday. The state’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr Nasir Muaazu, told newsmen in Katsina that apart from the number of […]

The death toll from Tuesday’s attack on worshippers at a mosque in Unguwar Mantau community of Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State has risen to 34, the state government said on Wednesday.

The state’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr Nasir Muaazu, told newsmen in Katsina that apart from the number of deaths, other victims of the attack were in hospitals receiving treatment, while an unspecified number of people were abducted during the attack.

He said there was a state delegation led by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Abdullahi Faskari, that went to the community to commiserate with the affected families but could not get into the Unguwar Mantau village, thus received in Karfi town by the village head and the relatives of the deceased.

According to a statement issued by the media directorate of the state government, the Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, who is currently on medical leave, immediately consulted with the Acting Governor, Malam Faruk Lawal, on the urgent need to dispatch a high-powered government delegation to commiserate with the bereaved families and the affected community.

While meeting with the affected families, Faskari assured the community that immediate support had been extended to the victims’ families, while a comprehensive assessment of damages and needs is currently underway.

However, the member representing Malumfashi in the Katsina State House of Assembly said at a plenary session on Tuesday that 30 people were killed and 20 burnt in three neighbouring communities on the day of the attack.

When our reporter visited some of the victims who were on admission at the Katsina Federal Teaching Hospital on Wednesday, their families prevented them from speaking as they expressed their anger.

Six victims, almost all from the same family, with different gunshot injuries in different parts of their bodies, were receiving treatment at the hospital at the time of the visit.

However, one of them, who said his house was among those set ablaze during the attack, told our reporter that after the mosque killings, the attackers went from house to house, killing people and setting the houses on fire.