At least five villages — Bakkai, Bebeni Dakamawa, Unguwar Dankali, Marafa and Yar Tsintsiya — in Katsina State, home of President Muhammadu Buhari, are now under the control of Fulani bandits.

Residents of affected communities, who fled to Mabbai, a transit shelter for displaced people in Kankara Local Government Area, told Jamil Mabai, a Cliq TV reporter, on Wednesday, that the armed Fulani men took over following a series of brutal attacks on residents.

In an earlier interview, some displaced residents narrated how Fulani men had killed villagers and raped some before taking over affairs in the communities.

“They wanted to shoot him and I pleaded with the bandits,” said Zainab about the man who had accompanied her. “They said they would hit him with a dagger and I pleaded with them again. They wanted to shoot him; I begged and pleaded with the bandits.”

Zainab had stayed in Mabbai alongside other displaced persons from several villages sacked by the bandits before deciding to return home to get some food for her children. Armed Fulani men, however, intercepted her and collected the food items.

“The Fulani [collected the food]. They are policing our affairs and have taken control of our villages. They are the authorities now; they dictate our affairs,” she continued, shedding tears.

“How can small boys be treating elderly men like that? They abused him and asked him to go back. It happened just now.”

Gaje, another Bakkai resident, narrated the incident that led to the death of her husband, leaving her to single-handedly cater for 12 children.

“He wanted to run, but they shot him in the chest,” she said. “I was traumatized. I said to them: ‘You have ruined my life’. They said I had not seen anything. That was how they left me with the body of my dead husband. They killed about 8 people that day.”

Jamil told FIJ that the displaced persons in Mabbai warned him not to visit any of the affected villages or he would be killed.