Bandits have attacked Rijiya village in Gusau local government area of Zamfara state, killing at least six people and abducting several others.
A local, Mustapha Ibrahim, told 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE on phone that the bandits stormed the community Sunday late afternoon.
“They started shooting sporadically when they entered the community. I think they normally shoot to confuse residents by creating commotion.They killed six people during the raid. We counted six
bodies,” he said.
He said the bandits also went from house to house, looting food items and other things they needed.
He explained that during the house to house search, the bandits took away several other people.
“We’ve not counted the number of those taken so far because others ran into the bush and most of them returned in the night. As of now (Monday morning), we’ve not started counting but they’ve taken many people, especially women and children,” Mr Ibrahim said.
He mentioned some of those killed as Rufai, Sani Lawal, Murtala.
Another source, who spoke to BBC Hausa also confirmed the attack.
He said those who died would be buried today while those killed have been hospitalized.
Mr Ibrahim added that the bandits who attacked the community came through the Tsafe axis.
Tsafe shares boundaries with Gusau, the state capital. Communities under Gusau, especially those sharing boundaries with Tsafe have experienced severe bandit attacks. Even areas inside Gusau that are closer to Tsafe local government areas like Damba Estate and Damba village have been attacked on different occasions.
Zamfara police command, Mohammed Shehu, phone was unreachable for hours as this reporter tried to reach him for comment on the attack.
