The bandits carried out coordinated attacks on the villages before a joint security team confronted them.
No fewer than 50 persons were killed on Friday afternoon when bandits attacked three villages in the Bakura Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
A former councillor told Premium Times that the gunmen attacked Sabon Garin Damri, Damri and Kalahe villages, around 2:30pm on Friday.
He was quoted as saying, “I was in the main town when the bandits entered Sabon Garin Damri. We suddenly saw people running towards us. Then we started hearing sporadic gunshots. I was miraculously saved.”
According to him, the bandits carried out coordinated attacks on the villages before a joint security team confronted them.
Another resident, Mu’azu Damri, told the newspaper that the number of casualties would have been more if the security agents didn’t confront the bandits.
“I’ll have to personally applaud them (security agents), though I believe they should have come earlier because if they came at the right time, they would have saved a lot of people. But their arrival helped because the number would have been more than that,” he said.
Damri also said the intervention of the military forced the bandits to flee leaving behind the livestock, food items, and other things they had looted from residents.
While Damri said the bandits killed 48, people, multiple sources confirmed that the casualty was 56.
“We counted 56 people,” the councillor said. “In Damri, only three people were killed; a girl and two other men but the remaining were all killed in Sabon Garin Damri and Kalahe. Some of them were not residents of the two communities. They were people who came from nearby villages to celebrate Eid El Fitr with their relatives” he said.
Another resident of Bakura Town, Usman Lauwali, also said 56 people were confirmed dead by residents of the three communities.
He said those who were wounded were receiving treatment at the General Hospital, Bakura.
A police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the newspaper that they were aware of the situation.
“We’re aware but you can wait for an official statement. I know that a strong reinforcement has been sent to Bakura and Talata Mafara axis this morning. The CP may even visit the communities later,” he said.