Residents of Tashar Danjanku in Malumfashi Local Government Area, Katsina State, barricaded the Katsina–Kano highway on Monday to protest a fresh wave of banditry that struck their community overnight.
The demonstration followed a raid in which one person was killed and about 20 others were taken hostage.
Frustrated by what they describe as chronic insecurity and the perceived inaction of security agencies, residents set tyres ablaze and blocked the road, bringing traffic to a standstill as motorists were forced to halt.
Community leaders say anger has been growing after repeated attacks with little visible response from authorities.
The blockade was intended to draw attention to the plight of victims and to pressure officials into delivering stronger protection.
Earlier reports from SaharaReporters said that community leaders and council chairmen from Charanchi and Batagarawa local government areas had recently met with a group of armed men described as bandits, and signed a “peace agreement.”
At that meeting, one of the armed men addressed residents and cast the violence in political terms rather than as solely local criminality:
“It was the government that wanted us to engage in banditry, but now it has called us and told us to stop. Therefore, by God’s grace, we have stopped from today,” said one of the bandits during the peace meeting between Batagarawa and Charanchi held on Saturday.
“If the government wants all this insecurity to end, they have the power to end it — but they don’t want it to end. For the past two months, we have been trying to initiate a peace talk, but we were unable to because they didn’t know where we were hiding.
“But when they finally decided to meet us, they were able to find and talk to us today. Peaceful coexistence and the end of insecurity depend on the Nigerian leaders. If they want us to keep striking and attacking, we will. But if they want peace, we will also make it happen.
“We don’t have the power or wisdom to bring peace to the country except through the Nigerian government, because everything is under their control. Despite people saying that we are attacking, it is the government that made us do it.
“If they don’t want us to attack or kidnap people, they can stop it. However, today, they were the ones who called us, and by God’s grace, we have stopped from today. You oppressed citizens — if you want to cry, don’t cry with us, the ‘terrorists,’ but cry with your government, for they are the ones who made us do what we have been doing,” the terrorist said.
Residents at the highway blockade demanded swift government action to recover the abducted and to prevent further raids, warning that more disruptions could follow unless security improves.
