Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the killing of worshippers in Katsina State, warning that violent attacks in Nigeria have reached what he described as an “epidemic level.”

On Tuesday, tragedy struck the Unguwan Mantau community in Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina, when gunmen stormed a mosque during early morning prayers, killing at least 32 people.

According to the Katsina State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasir Mu’azu, the attack was a reprisal after villagers had earlier confronted and lynched suspected bandits. In that incident, residents seized motorcycles, weapons, and rescued kidnapped victims from the nearby Ruwan Sanyi village.

Reacting to the fresh killings in a statement on Wednesday via his X (Twitter) account, Atiku said such incidents are no longer isolated but have become a grim reality in northern Nigeria and other regions of the country.

“The wanton killings of innocent Nigerians have reached an epidemic level. Only on Tuesday, in Katsina, at least 27 innocent worshippers were massacred inside a mosque by marauding bandits during morning prayers. This attack was not just against a community; it was an assault on our collective humanity,” Atiku lamented.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also criticized what he described as the government’s “denial posture” towards the worsening insecurity. He stressed that it was time for authorities to live up to their primary responsibility of protecting the lives and property of citizens.

The Katsina mosque massacre adds to a growing list of violent attacks that have left communities across Nigeria in grief, fueling calls for urgent and decisive government action.