Bandits have attacked Gidan Sarki, a community near Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), shooting a resident in the leg and rustling 28 cattle.
The attack occurred around 9pm on Sunday in the community located behind the university’s Jummat Mosque, triggering panic among residents.
The Sokoto State Police Command confirmed the incident, saying the attackers shot the owner of the livestock before escaping with the animals.
A senior police officer told our correspondent that the attack appeared to have targeted the victim’s household because of the large number of livestock kept there.
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“The attackers invaded a house in Gidan Sarki and shot the owner, identified as Malam Shehu Muhammad, in the leg. He is responding to treatment.
“They also rustled 28 cows belonging to him and his son, Mustapha Shehu,” the officer said.
He added that the police received information about the attack and directed the divisional police officer in charge of Wamakko Local Government Area to mobilise personnel to the community.
The police spokesperson, Ahmed Rufa’i, also confirmed that one person was shot and 28 cattle were stolen during the incident.
Residents said the attackers had threatened members of the community and demanded that students living in the area be brought out.
“They threatened us to bring out the students living in this community, but thank God it was during the holiday,” a resident said.
Hussaini, another resident who visited the community on Monday morning, said the victim survived the shooting and had been taken to hospital for treatment.
Another resident, Jameel Muhammad, confirmed that the gunmen escaped with more than 20 cows after shooting the owner in the leg.
The attack occurred while the university was on break, although some newly admitted students were reportedly around for registration.
They were not residing on the main campus, according to a university staff member who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The staff member confirmed that the affected community was near the university but stressed that the attack did not occur within the institution’s main campus.
Efforts to obtain an official comment from the university were unsuccessful, as its spokesperson, Isma’il Muhammad Yauri, declined to comment, saying the institution was not involved in the incident.
Background
The latest incident comes amid previous security incidents involving communities around the university, although authorities have distinguished attacks outside the campus from incidents within its premises.
On November 18, 2023, the university management refuted a report published by one of the national dailies (not daily Trust) alleging that gunmen had attacked its main campus, killing one person and injuring others.
In a statement, the university’s spokesperson, Isma’il Muhammad Yauri, said the incident occurred in Dundayen Bakin Gulbi, a village about two kilometres from the institution, and not within the university.
The management described the report as false and unfounded, adding that the university maintained security arrangements through collaboration with state security agencies and its internal security network.
Earlier, on October 3, 2023, the police confirmed an armed robbery at the university’s mini-market.
The then police spokesperson, ASP Ahmad Rufa’i, said about six hoodlums attacked shops, injured two shop owners and stole items, including beverages and food products.
He said security personnel responded to the incident and deployed two patrol teams within the university.
The university’s Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Umar Aliyu, also described the incident as armed robbery rather than a bandit attack, explaining that the assailants fired shots into the air to scare people away before looting shops.
He said the attackers did not enter student hostels or staff residences and that normalcy was restored following the deployment of security personnel.
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