Residents returned to the villages on Saturday after the military organized mass burials. The state government said 58 people had been killed during the attacks.
Ummaru Makeri, a resident who lost his wife and three children during the attack, said around 154 people had been buried, including several vigilantes. Residents said the total death toll was at least 200, the Guardian reported.
Balarabe Alhaji, a community leader in one of the affected villages, said, “We buried a total of 143 people killed by the bandits in the attacks.”
Babandi Hamidu, a resident of Kurfa Danya village, said the militants 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 said.
On Friday it was reported that more than 100 people were killed by suspected “bandit” militants in the north of the country. Gunmen on motorbikes arrived in large numbers in as many as nine communities between Tuesday and Thursday night, opening fire on residents and burning homes.
The military said it had conducted airstrikes in the early hours of Monday on targets in the Gusami forest and west Tsamre village in Zamfara state, killing more than 100 militants, including two of their leaders.
MA/PR