MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Gunmen killed at least 30 people in Nigeria’s Zamfara state when they raided several villages in a region that has been mired in a security crisis for more than two years, local residents and security sources said on Friday with.
A spate of attacks has emerged in north-west Nigeria, which has seen a sharp rise in mass kidnappings and other violent crimes since late 2020 as the government struggles to maintain law and order amid a flagging economy.
Three residents said the attack on the Anka government district in Zamfara took place around 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday, when more than 300 gunmen on motorcycles stormed eight villages and began sporadic shooting.
Abubakar Bello, a local resident who fled the attack, told Reuters by phone that local vigilantes outnumbered the gunmen who burned many homes and businesses.
Another resident, Ummaru Makeri, lost his wife and three children in the attack while his house was set on fire, he said over the phone.
“The villages of Kurfa and Rafin-Gero … have been under siege for two days without security forces,” Makeri said.
Zamfara state, one of the hardest hit by kidnappings, has been under a telecommunications blockade since early September, which the authorities say were in place to disrupt coordination between the bandits and help the armed forces fight them.
However, this has also meant that few people know what is going on in Zamfara as the authorities do not provide any information.
A spokesman for Zamfara’s governor told Reuters that the gunmen had been intercepted by the military and declined to give further details.
State police spokesman Muhammed Shehu could not be reached for comment.
Maiduguri Newsroom Reporting, Ardo Hazzard; additional reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja; writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Edited by Cynthia Osterman
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