SaharaReporters gathered that the gunmen who took away AK-47 rifles of the officers also killed two civilians.
Gunmen suspected to be bandits have killed six policemen along Gusau/Sokoto Road, near Dogon Karfe in the Bakura Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
SaharaReporters gathered that the gunmen who took away AK-47 rifles of the officers also killed two civilians.
One of the deceased was identified as Inspector Lemu.
“There was another attack by bandits along Sokoto-Gusau Road on Sunday. Eight people were killed, six police officers, including Inspector Lemu, and two civilians.
“The gunmen also robbed innocent commuters of their valuables,” a source told SaharaReporters.
The incident comes a few days after gunmen killed 67 persons in Magarya ward, Kadawa community of Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
SaharaReporters had recently exposed how about 15 brand new Hilux vehicles were given to leaders of different 'repentant' gangs of bandits by the governor.
The governor also approved millions of naira to be given to the 'repentant' bandits as compensation.
Zamfara, like many other states across the North, has witnessed sporadic attacks by bandits and kidnappers that have claimed the lives of many.
The state government in 2019 entered into a peace agreement with the gunmen.
But despite the accord, communities in the state are still being attacked and residents kidnapped and/or killed.
Zamfara, like other North-West states, has in the last 10 years faced devastating attacks from armed bandits.
A committee set up to investigate the menace of armed banditry in the region, headed by Mohammed Abubakar, a former Inspector General of Police, reported that in Zamfara State between June 2011 and May 2019, 4,983 women were widowed; 25,050 children were orphaned, and more than 190,000 people were displaced as a result of armed banditry.
Last year, Governor Aminu Masari, Matawalle's counterpart in Katsina State, said his administration had to pull out of the peace deal it had with bandits that had been terrorising residents of the state.
Masari said despite the peace deal, the gunmen continued to carry out attacks with their accomplices from Zamfara, Kaduna, and the Niger Republic, leading to “indiscriminate killings” and kidnappings in the state.
He said, “The armed bandits have betrayed our trust in them, following a peace agreement earlier negotiated with them, in our quest to find a lasting peace in the state,” he was quoted as saying.
"We chose dialogue for peaceful coexistence in the state and we have done our best; yet, the attacks continue.
“As a result of the peace agreement, the government banned vigilance groups and identified cattle routes and facilitated free movements of bandits to convey their livestock to the markets.”