Gunmen suspected of being bandits and armed with lethal weapons stormed Kangon Farun Mana and Yardoka villages in the Magami district of Zamfara State’s Gusau Local Government Area, killing over 40 people, the majority of whom were members of the outlawed Yansakai groups.
According to one eyewitness, Aminu Magami, the dreaded gunmen stormed the communities in the early hours of Wednesday and began terrorizing the villagers.
Magami explained that the majority of those killed were members of the outlawed Yansakai group, who attempted to repel the bandits’ attack.
“One of those killed by the bandits was a close friend of mine; we had discussion few hours before he was killed,” the source added.
In another development, bandits seized the communities of Bayan Banki, Gobirawa, and Biyabiki in the Tsafe Local Government Area of the State, killing one person in Gobirawa and injuring two others in Bayan Banki.
According to the source, those killed and injured were initially targeted and penciled by the bandits, who claimed they were members of outlawed Yansakai groups that had been preventing the bandits from operating freely in the area.
On Monday, members of the outlawed Yansakai groups at Gidan Zuma repelled another attack by some suspected bandits, killing two of their members.
Another eyewitness, who spoke to our correspondent said earlier before the Monday’s encounter, the bandits had attempted to cease the same Gidan Zuma but they were resisted by the members of the outlawed Yansakai during which the bandits lost five of their members.
When contacted, the State Police Command said it actually received a distress call when the attack was on in Magami but could not respond and repel the attack due to lack of good roads in the area.
According to the command’s spokesman, SP Mohammed Shehu, the location where the incident occurred does not have cellular network coverage making communication very difficult to the police operative for quick response.
He added that “PMF 19 Contingent attached to Puff Adder ll that are based in Magami responded to the locations on foot with a view to preventing further attacks on the neighbouring communities and their response is being awaited to ascertain the level of damage done by the assailants”.
