Twenty-one people were killed in clashes with “bandits” in northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state after villagers refused to pay them money, three locals told AFP Saturday.
Zamfara is one of several states in northwest and central Nigeria where criminal gangs, locally called bandits, carry out deadly raids, kidnappings and lootings.
The gangs have been increasingly forging ties with jihadists from the northeast waging a 17-year armed insurrection, causing concern among officialss.
More than 100 people have been killed by jihadists and criminal gangs in northern Nigeria since Sunday, including a brigadier general.
Dozens of bandits on around 80 motorcycles stormed Bunkasau village in Bukkuyum district on Friday and engaged residents in a shootout, the villagers said.
A police spokesman confirmed the incident to AFP without providing details.
“We are aware of the violence but we are still investigating and gathering details,” Yazid Abubakar, Zamfara state police spokesman said.
However, three locals said 21 people were killed in the clashes.
“The bandits killed 21 people during the fight,” said Lawwali Umar, a community leader in the town Bukkuyum, which is the district headquarters.
The villagers got tired of levies the bandits would periodically impose and decided never to pay again, Umar said.
The villagers decided to use the money to buy arms and defend themselves, said Umar.
Jamilu Aliyu, another Bukkuyum resident gave the same death toll.
Babuga Ahmad from the neighbouring village of Yashi said the bandits engaged the villagers in a gunfight and waited until the villagers ran out of bullets before they “went full blast”.
“They killed 21 people,” Ahmad said.
Pictures sent to an AFP reporter from the village showed two rows of dead young men lying on the blood-stained floor of a room.
Bandit violence started as clashes between herders and farmers over scarce water and land resources.
It morphed into organised cattle rustling and kidnapping syndicates.
The Nigerian government has deployed troops in Zamfara since 2015 to fight the bandits but the violence has persisted.
The state authorities have on several occasions brokered peace deals with the bandits and offered amnesty in exchange for surrendering their arms but the gangs kept returning to violence.
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This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
