Bandits have killed 20 people and injured many others when they attacked five communities in two local government areas of Zamfara state.
Residents of the affected communities confirmed the attacks and the casualties to ChannelsTV in an interview on Sunday.
According to the report, the gunmen who invaded the communities in large numbers on Saturday afternoon and started shooting sporadically, killing innocent residents in the process.
The affected communities – Gabaken, Rigiya, Donroyi, Torawa, and Riwoji are located in Zurmi and Kaura Namoda local government areas of the state.
“They (the bandits) attacked a village called Gabaken and killed five people; in Torawa, they killed five people. One person was killed in a village called Rigiya; a village called Donroyi in Zurmi Local Government, they killed four people.
“In a village called Riwoji where I come from, they killed four and injured seven people, including my father’s younger brother,” one of the witnesses, Umar Abubakar told ChannelsTV.
The injured persons were taken to the general hospitals in Kaura-Namoda, Birnin-Magaji, and Gusau where two of them were later confirmed dead.
‘I pretended as if I was dead’.
Another eyewitness said that the bandits stormed Torawa community when residents were observing the afternoon prayer.
He noted that the armed men surrounded the area and began to shoot sporadically, lamenting that he lost two of his family members to the attack.
“They told us bandits have rounded our village. The bandits came into the villages on motorcycles and fired gunshots sporadically, killing many villagers.
“They were many that invaded the villages and two of my family members were among those killed by the bandits,” Torawa said.
“We were inside hiding because the bandits were many … the bandits shot at me and I pretended as if I was dead, that was why they left me.
“I can remember I saw only two other victims by my side,” Ibrahim Riwoji, another victim told ChannelsTV.
The police authorities did not give the number of those killed and injured by the gunmen.
The spokesperson for the Zamfara State Police Command, Mohammed Shehu noted that police tactical teams have been deployed in the affected areas to restore normalcy in the communities.
