Another black dawn has fallen on Katsina State as gunmen unleashed terror on Unguwar Mantau, a farming community in Malumfashi Local Government Area, killing no fewer than 13 worshippers during the early morning (Fajr) prayers on Tuesday.
What was supposed to be a quiet moment of devotion turned into a bloodbath when heavily armed bandits stormed the mosque around 5:30 a.m., shooting indiscriminately and leaving worshippers in pools of blood. Several survivors are battling for their lives in hospitals across Malumfashi and Funtua.
Local accounts indicate the massacre was not random. Just two days earlier, brave residents of Unguwar Mantau had staged a successful ambush on the same criminal gang, killing several of them and seizing three motorcycles and two AK-47 rifles. Tuesday’s attack was, therefore, a brutal reprisal.
Katsina State Commissioner for Internal Security, Dr. Nasir Mu’azu, confirmed the incident, describing it as a clear act of vengeance by the bandits. He said the Nigerian Army and police had been deployed to the area, combing farmlands where the criminals are believed to be hiding, taking advantage of the rainy season’s thick vegetation.
“This is a retaliation. Our security agencies are on the ground, and we are determined to restore calm in Unguwar Mantau,” Mu’azu assured.
But residents are not convinced. For them, the tragedy is yet another reminder that communities have been left to defend themselves in the face of a worsening security crisis.
“This is not the first time, and it won’t be the last unless something changes. Government must wake up,” a grieving resident said, insisting anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
The attack adds to the grim tally of lives lost in Nigeria’s Northwest, where banditry has transformed into a full-blown war on rural communities. While citizens take up self-help measures, reprisals like this leave behind devastation that exposes the limits of both state protection and federal response.
For the families of Unguwar Mantau, the graves dug today will stand as yet another painful testimony of Nigeria’s endless insecurity.
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