Gunmen on Sunday killed at least 16 villagers in an attack in northwestern Nigeria, the latest violence blamed on heavily armed criminal gangs, police said on Monday.
The center and northwest of Africa's most populous country have for years been the scene of criminal gangs, known locally as
"bandits"
, who raid villages, steal livestock, kidnap and kill residents.
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And faced with the increase in attacks, the government recently declared
these criminal groups
“terrorists” .
Dozens of gunmen on motorbikes stormed the village of Ganar-Kiyawa in Zamfara state on Sunday, killing 16 villagers, local police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said.
"The terrorists killed 16 people in the attack and fled before the police deployed,"
said Mohammed Shehu.
"The police and the army are in the area to prevent further attacks and pursue the bandits
," he added.
In a statement, the Zamfara state governor's office confirmed the attack, saying
"many lives were reportedly lost and many more injured
," without giving further details.
The local press evokes a much higher toll, with at least 37 dead, including the village chief, and dozens of people kidnapped.
Despite military operations and amnesties, attacks are increasing in the northwest and center.
In early January, more than 200 people were killed in several attacks by gunmen in Zamfara state.
The attackers operate from hidden camps in a vast forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states.
According to Zamfara State Information Commissioner Ibrahim Dosara, nearly 700,000 people fled their homes to escape the attacks, prompting the government to open eight camps to accommodate them.
Bandit violence in Nigeria's northwestern and central states is just one of the challenges facing security forces, who are also battling a 12-year-old jihadist insurgency in the northeast and separatist tensions in the southeast of the country.