Northwest and central Nigeria have been terrorized for years by criminal gangs known as bandits who raid and loot villages, steal cattle and carry out mass abductions of residents for ransom.
“A total of 48 people were killed by the bandits in the three villages (Damri, Sabon Garin and Kalahe) attacked Friday afternoon," said Aminu Suleiman, administrative head of Bakura district where the villages are, France 24 reported.
Dozens of gunmen on motorcycles entered the three villages in coordinated attacks, shooting people as they tried to flee, Suleiman said.
The worst hit was Damri where the gunmen killed 32 people, Suleiman told AFP, including patients at a hospital. “They burnt a police patrol vehicle, killing two security personnel.”
Troops deployed in the area engaged the attackers in a gun battle, forcing them to withdraw, Suleiman added.
The criminals have recently stepped up their assaults despite military operations against their hideouts.
The so-called “bandits" maintain camps in a vast forest, straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states.
In the past two months, they have attacked a train between the capital Abuja and Kaduna city and kidnapped dozens of passengers, massacred more than 100 villagers and killed a dozen members of vigilante groups.
In early January, gunmen killed more than 200 people in Zamfara state.
MA/PR
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