Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday condemned the attacks that killed at least 140 people this week in Zamfara State, perpetrated, according to him, by “
mass murderers
” who terrorize the populations of rural northwestern Nigeria.
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Northwest and central Nigeria have for several years been the scene of the activities of criminals known locally as "
bandits
", who attack, loot and kidnap residents, stealing their livestock and burning their homes. The head of state did not report any precise results, but a local official and several residents told AFP that at least 140 people had died in recent days.
Hundreds of armed men on motorcycles invaded ten villages in Anka and Bukkuyum districts between Wednesday and Thursday, shooting at residents, looting and burning buildings, the sources said.
"
We buried a total of 143 people killed by the bandits in these attacks
," Balarabe Alhaji, head of one of the villages attacked, told AFP.
Several local sources also put forward similar figures.
"
Retaliation
"
"
The latest bandit attacks on innocent people are an act of desperation on the part of mass murderers
," President Buhari said in a statement on Saturday. "
Let me reassure these besieged communities and other Nigerians, this government will not abandon them to their fate because we are more determined than ever to get rid of these outlaws
," he added.
On Wednesday, the government officially branded the "
bandits
" operating in Nigeria as "
terrorists
" in order to toughen sanctions against perpetrators, their informants and supporters.
In the official gazette, the activities of "
Yan Bindiga
" and "
Yan Ta'adda
" - terms meaning bandits in the local Hausa language - were classified as "
acts of terrorism
".
Criticism of the President
The president, a 79-year-old former general, is widely criticized for his inability to stem widespread insecurity in the country. In addition to the fight against banditry, the Nigerian army is deployed on multiple fronts, especially in the North-East, which has been the victim of a jihadist insurgency for more than ten years, and in the South-East agitated by separatist movements.
The Nigerian armed forces said this week that they have killed 537 "
armed bandits and other criminal elements
" and arrested 374 others in the northwest since May 2020, while 452 "
abducted civilians have been rescued
".
Kabir Adamu, of Abuja-based security analyst Beacon Consulting Nigeria, said this week's attacks could be a response to recent military operations to dislodge them from their strongholds in Zamfara state.