Suspected bandits have reportedly launched an attack on a wedding convoy in Unguwar Nagunda community, Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State, leaving at least two people dead.
Several others, including the bride, sustained injuries during the incident.
The attack, which occurred on Sunday night, also led to the abduction of an unspecified number of wedding guests.
A security source disclosed on Monday that residents heard intense gunfire and witnessed panic across the community when the assailants arrived late Sunday night.
“As of this morning, families are still trying to confirm how many people were abducted,” the source said.
Efforts to obtain an official reaction from the Katsina State Police Command proved unsuccessful, as calls and text messages sent to the police public relations officer, DSP Abubakar Sadiq, were unanswered as of the time of filing this report.
The incident comes amid plans by the Katsina State Government to release 70 detained suspected bandits as part of steps aimed at consolidating what it described as an “existing peace” agreement between affected communities and repentant bandits.
The government said the arrangement had already resulted in the release of at least 1,000 persons previously held captive by suspected bandits in various attacks.
It maintained that such strategies are common in conflict situations globally.
The government further reiterated that the peace deal had facilitated the freedom of over 1,000 abducted persons across the state.
On January 2, 2026, an official letter surfaced detailing the state government’s plan to secure the release of suspected bandits currently facing criminal prosecution for banditry-related offences.
The letter, marked “SECRET,” was issued by the Ministry of Justice and addressed to the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Musa Abubakar.
Through the Ministry of Justice, the state government sought the intervention of the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC) to facilitate the release of the detained suspects.
Signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Abdur-Rahman Umar, the letter revealed that a list containing 48 individuals accused of various banditry offences had been submitted to the justice ministry by the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs.
According to the document, the planned release was intended to ensure “their release from detention, as one of the conditions precedent for the continuance of the peace accord deal signed between the frontline local governments and the bandits.”
The government also disclosed that while some of the suspects were already standing trial at the Federal High Court, others were being held pending trial at different magistrates’ courts across the state.
Umar added that another list of about 22 inmates currently facing trial at various high courts in the state had also been submitted, requesting their release under the same peace agreement, and urged the Chief Judge to take the “necessary action” to implement the request.