Days of bandit raids in two northwestern Nigerian states left at least 27 people dead earlier this week, local authorities said Thursday.
SokotoFarming and herding communities in the region have in recent years been plagued by criminal gangs who sack villages, steal cattle and kidnap for ransom.
The latest violence began in Sokoto state on Monday when gunmen raided three villages in Rabah district and killed 16 people, state governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said.
“I extend my condolences to our compatriots in Rabah local government area… which were Monday night attacked by bandits in which 16 people were killed,” Tambuwal said in a televised broadcast.
The violence continued in neighbouring Zamfara state Tuesday when gunmen on motorcycles killed 11 villagers in the Anka district, police said.
“Attack on Kawaye village by suspected armed bandits resulted (in) the death of 11 persons, including the wife of the village head,” Zamfara police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said in a statement.
A resident who saw the attack said the bandits burned homes and vehicles and carted away dozens of locals.
“They killed 13 people and kidnapped 40 residents, including our chief,” resident Altine Mamman told AFP, giving a slightly higher death toll.
Zamfara state, a hotbed of bandit activity, has seen repeated bloody clashes.
Amnesty International last July described it as “at the mercy” of armed bandits who had killed at least 371 people in the first six months of 2018.
Last week a civilian defence force in Zamfara killed 59 people who they claimed were bandits during an attack on a village.
Gunmen earlier this month killed 26 people when they attacked six separate villages.
Zamfara is a political stronghold for President Muhammadu Buhari, who carried the state in last week’s presidential election that handed him a second four-year term.
He has pledged to continue confronting Nigeria’s many security crises, while giving few specifics.
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