Four persons have been feared killed just as about seven others are deemed “missing” following attack by suspected cattle rustlers at Rugu Village in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State.

It was gathered that the suspected rustlers opened fire on the villagers from Marina community who had gone to Rugu Village in search of a missing community member.

A resident, who does not want his name mentioned, said the villagers had dispatched themselves into Rugu forest to search for a wood carver who was declared missing by his family after waiting without seeing him for days.

“We dispatched a team to the forest in search of the man but the rustlers laid ambush and killed four persons including the wood carver. But seven other persons have not been seen yet. We are still searching.”

Our source said the villagers had long observed funeral prayers for the four persons whose corpse were found noting “we are at a dilemma over these seven people as we can’t say with certainty if they are have been killed or not.”

But an APC chieftain from the village told our correspondent that the rustlers killed 12 people noting “we buried four corpses but another team has gone to the forest to recover the remaining corpses.”

In another development, suspected rustlers reportedly killed two vigilante members at a market in Yankara village of Faskari LG of the State.

It was gathered that the suspected rustlers who appeared to be on the trail of their victims from a village in neighbouring Zamfara State, shot sporadically into the air after killing their victims.

“People at the market ran helter-skelter for safety and the market ended abruptly” an eyewitness told our correspondent.

When our correspondent contacted the spokesman of Katsina Police, DSP Aminu Abubakar Sadiq for confirmation, he said he was attending a meeting in Abuja.