BAUCHI - An armed gang killed at
least 34 people in attacks on villages in northwest Nigeria,
police said on Sunday, part of a wave of violence the government
has blamed on bandits.
Hundreds of people have died in the northwest region this
year, adding to security problems in a country already
struggling with Islamist insurgencies in the northeast and a
brutal conflict between farmers and herders in central states.
The armed gang came to unprotected villages in the
northwestern state of Zamfara on Friday night, killing 34
people, said Muhammed Shehu, police spokesman for the state.
People from the village told Reuters the attackers escaped.
"We heard gunshots and saw people running for shelter,
chased by men on motorbikes," said Shehu Shinkafi.
"We immediately took cover in a house nearby, and after the
bandits were done with their killing spree they moved to a
nearby village," he said, adding he counted 12 bodies in his
village alone.
The gang left without any resistance as there were no
security agents in the area, and it was only after the massacre
that police arrived hours later, Shinkafi and two other
witnesses said.