Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
On the afternoon of Sunday, 31 May 2026, two men, Musa and Hashimu, were shot dead at close range by bandits on motorcycles in Mai-Mashekari village, Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State. The two farmers had been collecting and mixing soil to repair their mud homes when the attackers emerged from the bush, dismounted, and opened fire. Both men died before neighbours could reach them. The gunmen fled immediately back into the forested corridors that link the village to the Rugu Forest axis.
What made the tragedy even more unbearable for residents was the date on the calendar. Exactly one year earlier, on 31 May 2025, the same community had buried Nasiru, Musa's son, after a similar bandit attack. Nasiru was reportedly shot while working on his farm. No arrest was ever made in that case. A resident who spoke to Stone Reporters News said: "Last year they took Musa's son; this year they took Musa himself. How many fathers must die before the government puts a single checkpoint on that road?"
Faskari Local Government Area has become one of the most lethal corridors in the North‑West, sitting on the edge of the Rugu Forest, a vast ungoverned woodland that stretches across parts of Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger states. Bandits have used the forest as a staging ground for years, and Faskari's farming villages bear the brunt of the raids. The police have confirmed the incident but have not announced any arrests. The two bodies were buried before sunset according to Islamic rites, under the same tree where Musa's son had been buried a year earlier.
For the neighbours who carried the corpses to the graves, the silence after the funeral was heavier than any gunfire. Hashimu, 34, leaves behind three young children. His wife, Aisha, told reporters through a neighbour: "If there is no one to protect us, we will leave. We will go to Faskari town, or to Kaduna, or anywhere that a father can collect mud to fix his house without being shot."
As of Monday, 1 June 2026, no security patrol had been sighted in the village. The surviving men went back to patching the walls of their mud homes, knowing that the next motorcycle engine they hear could be the last sound they ever recognise.
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