Eleven persons have been confirmed dead following a bandit attack on the Ware community in the Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The incident occurred on Thursday when armed men reportedly stormed the village and opened fire on residents.
A member of the Zamfara State House of Assembly representing Tsafe West Constituency, Amiru Ahmad Keta, confirmed this to Channels Television on Saturday.
He said that eleven bodies had so far been recovered and conveyed to Keta village for burial.
According to him, residents attempting to evacuate additional bodies were chased away by the attackers, making it difficult to ascertain the actual number of casualties.
Keta said the victims whose bodies were recovered were transported in wheelbarrows to Keta for burial.
“On Thursday, the bandits entered Ware village and killed unspecified numbers of people; so far, eleven dead bodies have been conveyed to Keta village. I have the short video; they were taken in wheelbarrows to Keta for burial,” the lawmaker said.
“Right now, the people who are evacuating the dead bodies have stopped because the bandits chased them away. We don’t know the exact number of people killed. No single security agencies have been able to access Ware village since Thursday.”
The lawmaker also disclosed that a Nigerian Army Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was destroyed after running into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) along the Keta-Danjibga road in Tsafe Local Government Area.
The troops were reportedly escorting civilian vehicles along the high-risk area when the explosion occurred.
Following the blast, the soldiers were said to have withdrawn from the scene, after which the attackers allegedly returned and set the damaged vehicle ablaze.
Zamfara is one of the North-Western states affected by banditry who most times struggle for resource control. Other states like Kebbi, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Katsina have also had their fair share of attacks.
On February 18, gunmen killed dozens of people and destroyed seven villages in raids in Kebbi state.
Members of the Lakurawa group attacked villages in the Bui district of Arewa northern region at around 1:15 pm (1215 GMT) Wednesday, said Kebbi state police command spokesman Bashir Usman.
Usman said, “Scores of people were killed as residents from Mamunu, Awasaka, Tungan Tsoho, Makangara, Kanzo, Gorun Naidal, and Dan Mai Ago mobilised to resist the attackers.”
A resident in one of the villages said at least 35 people had been killed.
“We were in our homes, we heard gunshots,” said the resident of Kanzo.
“People outside began to run into their shelters, gunshots hit some people,” he added.
Usman said the attackers had also made off with cattle in the raids.
