Armed bandits kills at least 200 civilians in northwest Nigeria
An estimated 200 people have been killed in attacks by armed bandits in the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara, residents say, following military air raids on their hideouts last week.
The state government said 58 people were killed in the mass killings.
The military conducted air attacks on Monday on targets in the Gusami forest and west Tsamre village in Zamfara, killing more than 100 bandits including two of their leaders.
More than 300 gunmen on motorcycles stormed eight villages in the Anka local area in Zamfara on Tuesday and started shooting sporadically, killing at least 30 people.
Attackers also rampaged through 10 villages in Anka and Bukkuyum districts on Wednesday through Thursday, firing at residents and looting and burning homes.
Babandi Hamidu, a resident of Kurfa Danya village, said the assailants were shooting “anyone on sight”.
“More than 140 people were buried across the 10 villages and the search for more bodies is ongoing because many people are unaccounted for,” Hamidu told the AFP news agency.
President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement on Saturday the military acquired more equipment to track down and eliminate criminal gangs, which have been subjecting people to a reign of terror, including through the illegal imposition of taxes on communities under siege.
“The latest attacks on innocent people by the bandits is an act of desperation by mass murderers, now under relentless pressure from our military forces,” Buhari said.
Buhari added the government will not relent in its military operations to get rid of the armed gangs.
AGENCIES