Armed Bandits Kill 23 in Zamfara
NO fewer than 23 persons were confirmed killed following a midnight attack by suspected armed bandits in Lingyado Village in Maru Local Government of Zamfara State.
Commissioner of Police in Zamfara State, Alhaji Tambari Muhammed Yabo, who confirmed the incident, disclosed it was believed to be a reprisal attack by a group of aggrieved herdsmen.
Yabo said that the first report reaching him stated that the villagers allegedly supported a vigilante group about three months ago, to attack some herdsmen, some of who were killed and their cows confiscated.
'The herdsmen claimed that some of the confiscated cows were found at Bena Village in Kebbi and vowed to take revenge anytime they have the opportunity,' the police commissioner said.
He stated that the incident was not an armed robbery attack as earlier reported, but purely a reprisal attack.
Yabo, however, said that the police had not made any arrest in connection with the incident.
He warned that anybody caught breaching the existing peace in the state would face the wrath of the law.
A survivor of the incident, Malam Shehu Danmalam, had told News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) that the bandits operated with AK47 rifles and other sophisticated weapons.
Danmalam said that the hoodlums invaded the village at about 1 a.m. on Saturday and opened fire sporadically, while the inhabitants were asleep.
He said that the unsuspecting villagers were at the mercy of the attackers, who killed men, women and children.
Lingyado village has been deserted for fear of possible further attacks.
There were misgivings in some foreign media that mistakenly situated the incident in the context of another uprising of the dreaded Islamic sect, the Boko Haram uprising but Police investigation and findings indicated the contrary.
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