Katsina killings: This is what Buhari believes caused the killings of 30 people in his home state

President Muhammadu Buhari has identified the main reason behind the killings of people in two villages in Katsina, his home state on Friday, February 14, 2020.

Pulse had earlier reported that no fewer than 30 people were killed by suspected bandits at Tsauwa and Dankar villages in Batsari Local Government Area of the state.

At Tsauwa, 21 people were reportedly killed. The bandits also burnt the homes of their victims and also killed some animals.

According to Punch, the bulk of the victims in the village were old people and children.

However, while condemning the incident, President Buhari said the bandits attacked the villagers in retaliation of what the farmers had earlier done to them.

Buhari said the bandits returned to the communities to wreak havoc because they had been subjected to jungle justice by farmers in the affected communities.

One of the villages set ablaze by suspected bandits in Katsina state. (Punch) Pulse Nigeria

In a statement titled ‘Revenge killings in Katsina State unacceptable’ and signed by Garba Shehu, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, the president said, “communities that catch bandits should hand over the suspects to law enforcement authorities instead of meting out capital punishment to them.”

The statement released on Sunday, February 16, 2020, reads in part, “President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the latest round of attacks on farmers by bandits in Damkal and Tsanwa villages in Batsari local government area of Katsina state, saying that killing people in the name of revenge is not acceptable.

“Reacting to the incident in which many homesteads were razed by fire with many people killed at weekend, the President on Sunday warned that no one in the country has a right to take the law into his hands by the way of self-help or revenge.

“Local communities that catch bandits should hand over the suspects to law enforcement authorities instead of meting out capital punishment, leading to a cycle of revenge and counter revenge.

“The authorities must be allowed to investigate and deal with any breach that occurs. There is no place for violence in a decent society.”

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Sanusi Buba had on Saturday, February 15, 2020, said the police did not know the cause of the killings, Punch reports.