Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The bullet-riddled body of a young man was driven back to his family’s home in Katsina State on Monday evening. Hours earlier, Saidu Nasir Saidu Liman, known to all as Kalipha, had left in good health, heading to the nearby town to complete his mandatory monthly biometric thumbprint for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme. He never made it. Gunmen suspected to be armed bandits ambushed his vehicle along the Jikamshi-Funtua road, opening fire on passengers and killing four people instantly. Among the dead was the 20-something graduate, whose remains were later returned to his grief-stricken relatives, several of whom fainted on the spot.
The attack, which occurred on the evening of Monday, May 4, 2026, marks one of the most devastating strikes in the volatile Musawa Local Government Area of Katsina State in recent weeks. According to residents who spoke with this reporter, the bandits emerged from a nearby bush shortly before dusk, blocking the busy thoroughfare and firing indiscriminately at three commercial vehicles traveling in a convoy. In the ensuing chaos, at least four passengers were killed on the spot, including a woman and a teenage student returning from school. Several others sustained bullet wounds and were rushed to the Funtua General Hospital for emergency treatment. The assailants, estimated to be more than 30 men on motorcycles, reportedly roamed the highway for over thirty minutes, robbing other travelers of phones and cash before security operatives arrived on the scene. By then, the gunmen had vanished into the dense forest that lines the highway.
Saidu Nasir Saidu Liman was not a soldier or a politician or a rival gang member. He was a young Nigerian who had just completed his mandatory one-year national service and was awaiting his certificate. He had left his home in Jikamshi town on Monday after the midday prayer, telling his mother he would be back before the night prayer. He never returned. When the news of his death filtered back to the community, the shock was overwhelming. A cousin, Kammalideen Ibrahim, told reporters that the family received a phone call from a hospital in Funtua, informing them that a young man bearing Saidu’s description had been brought in dead.
"He was shot in the chest and the arm. The bullets tore through him. We couldn't even recognize his face at first," Ibrahim said, his voice breaking. "He was so happy to have finished the NYSC programme. He was always telling us that this year would be his year. How can bandits just take that away?" The slain youth’s mother has reportedly been sedated after collapsing repeatedly. His father, an elderly farmer, sat motionless for hours, refusing to speak to anyone.
The attack on Saidu and three others happened just 48 hours after security agencies recorded what they had described as a major victory against banditry in Kankia Local Government Area, a neighbouring district. On Saturday, May 2, a joint team of police and local vigilantes had intercepted a group of armed men led by a notorious bandit kingpin identified as Mohammadu Fulani. In a fierce gun battle, several of the bandits were killed, eight motorcycles were recovered, and rustled cattle were returned to their owners. The Katsina State Government called it a "significant operational victory." But less than 24 hours later, the same group reportedly regrouped and launched a brutal reprisal attack on Gwalgoro Village in the Gyaza/Kunduru Ward, killing eleven residents in a midday rampage.
The Katsina State Police Command confirmed the reprisal attack in a statement issued on Sunday. The Commissioner of Police, Ali Umar-Fage, condemned the killings, describing them as "cowardly and barbaric." He ordered an aggressive, intelligence-led manhunt for the perpetrators and deployed additional tactical teams to the affected communities. In the same statement, the police noted that the reprisal followed recent operational successes against bandits in the area, including the foiling of a cattle rustling attempt on April 29 and the interception of another attack on Matinjin village on May 2. However, Monday's ambush on the Jikamshi-Funtua road, which occurred in an area that had not been singled out for reprisal warnings, suggests that the bandits are capable of shifting tactics and striking new targets at will.
The Jikamshi-Funtua road is a vital artery connecting Musawa to the larger commercial town of Funtua, where many residents travel for work, school, and medical appointments. In recent months, however, the route has become increasingly perilous. Local drivers have reported multiple near-miss ambushes, with bandits often mounting makeshift checkpoints and extorting travelers. "I have stopped taking that road after 4 p.m.," said Musa Tanko, a commercial driver who plies the route daily. "But Saidu had no choice. The NYSC office closes early. He had to go to get his thumbprint done. How is a boy trying to serve his country supposed to be safe on the road?" The NYSC Director of Press and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, did not respond to calls seeking comment on the killing of the corps member, but viral posts from fellow graduates have flooded social media, questioning why a government programme continues to expose young citizens to mortal danger.
The Katsina State Government has yet to publicly address Monday’s attack on the Jikamshi-Funtua road, but a senior official at the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Stone Reporters News that security agencies had been placed on high alert across the Musawa and Funtua axes. "We are aware of the attack and we are investigating. The governor has ordered that those responsible be hunted down and made to face justice," the official said. In a statement released earlier on Sunday, the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr. Nasir Mu’azu, had acknowledged the security challenges facing the state but insisted that the government was winning the war. "Intelligence partnership with communities is what made the first interception possible, and it will continue to save lives," the statement read. That assurance, however, offers little comfort to the family of Saidu Nasir Saidu Liman, who have already buried their son.
The killings in Jikamshi-Funtua come on the heels of another attack in the state on Sunday, May 3, 2026, when bandits launched a reprisal on Jeka da Kolo and Kwalgoro villages in Kankia LGA, killing 11 residents. The police said the attack occurred around 12 noon when the criminals regrouped and stormed the villages, shooting indiscriminately before tactical teams forced them to retreat. According to the police command’s spokesman, DSP Abubakar Sadiq, the commissioner described the attack as "cowardly and barbaric" and ordered an aggressive manhunt for the perpetrators. The command also noted that the reprisal followed recent operational successes against bandits in the area, including the foiling of a cattle rustling attempt on April 29, 2026, at Gadar Yan Tulu and Kartaka villages, where 205 animals were recovered. On May 2, 2026, operatives also foiled an attack on Matinjin village, forcing several bandits to flee with gunshot injuries and recovering eight operational motorcycles. Yet, despite these tactical victories, the bandits struck again on Monday, killing four more people, including a young graduate who had his whole life ahead of him.
As the sun rose over Jikamshi on Tuesday morning, the body of Saidu Nasir Saidu Liman had already been lowered into the ground. There was no military flyover, no presidential tweet, no high-level delegation from Abuja. There was only the sound of women wailing and the silent grief of a family that had lost its pride. "We are tired," a neighbor said, watching the funeral from a distance. "We are tired of burying our children." But the guns have not tired. And until they do, the Jikamshi-Funtua road will remain a corridor of death, and young Nigerians like Kalipha will keep dying—on their way to serve the same nation that cannot protect them.
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