Armed men on motorbikes have killed 11 people and kidnapped at least 70 others, including women and children, in a village in Zamfara State, Nigeria, witnesses said.
The attackers opened fire as they rode into Sabongarin Damri late on Saturday, resident Isa Sani said.
“They came on motorcycles, shooting randomly before abducting our daughters and children. As of today, we haven’t heard anything from them. Everywhere is quiet,” he said on Monday.
Groups known locally as “bandits” have killed hundreds of people and seized thousands across the state in recent years. They often hold captives for months and demand ransoms for their release.
Sufiyanu Ibrahim said the attackers kidnapped his wife and shot him in the leg. “There was gunshots everywhere … I narrowly escaped,” he said by phone. At least 11 people were killed, he added.
Zamfara, which borders Niger, has become the epicentre of the violent attacks that have disrupted farming and travel and forced thousands to flee their homes.
Shehu Musa, the traditional chief of Sabongarin Damri village, confirmed that more than 60 people were taken, including women and children.
From April to July, police arrested 2,109 suspected bandits and freed 175 kidnap victims in the northwest and central regions, Lanre Issa-Onilu, the head of the government’s National Orientation Agency, said on Monday.