Gunmen believed to be bandits have attacked villages located in the Nigerian states of Sokoto and Zamfara, killing in total at least 81 people, Nigerian media reported on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th June, 2023) Gunmen believed to be bandits have attacked villages located in the Nigerian states of Sokoto and Zamfara, killing in total at least 81 people, Nigerian media reported on Monday.
The attacks took place on Saturday evening. At least 50 people were killed in Sokoto and 31 in Zamfara, the Punch newspaper reported, citing local authorities.
"Some of the bandits were already in the town, unknown to residents of the affected communities, before others arrived in the evening to strike," one of the villagers told the newspaper.
The gunmen imposed levies on local residents, and when they refused to pay them, the bandits attacked, Bashar Kalenjen, a former chairman of one of the affected communities, was cited as saying by Punch.
The local police have launched an investigation into the attacks, the newspaper reported.
