According to locals, gunmen belonging to infamous bandits lord Damina raided the villages of Kango and Dangulbi in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara on Sunday morning, killing 18 residents.
Many of the victims who fled the attack have not yet returned. It is important to note that Maru Local Government of Zamfara is the epicentre of bandits attack in state.
After the attack, the 18 deceased were buried using Islamic traditions, a community elder who asked to remain anonymous told reporters.
Five people were killed in Kango, according to Shehu Ismaila, a native of Maru town and another source who claimed 13 people were slain in Dangulbi. Ismaila is a native of Dangulbi.
Ismaila claimed that the robbers started off by attacking Kango before going on to Dangulbi, where they murdered some of the locals tending to their farms.
“Six people were killed outside the community while the remaining seven were killed inside the main village. Those killed were early risers who were possibly trying to do some work on their farm before returning home to continue with the Sallah celebrations,” he said.
The five people slain in Kango, he said, were all shot. He claimed that because “all the residents fled,” their burial was postponed until dusk.
Yusuf Abdullahi, a Dansadau local, claimed that when his sister-in-law traveled to the Dangulbi hamlet to celebrate the Sallah festival with her aunt, she almost got caught up in the attack.
He remarked, “She called to say she was fine but one of their neighbors was slain and several people in the house she went to are still missing.
Many of those who are missing are thought to be hiding in the jungle and might come back. Ismaila informed reporters that Damina, the bandits’ leader, demanded N2 million last week.
The village chief, however, claimed that Damina and they had negotiated a truce and that they did not anticipate him attacking the village.
“We sat with him (Damina) in the presence of the Local Government Chairman and they promised to cease fire.”
He said despite the pleas by the community leaders and their promise, the bandits continued with the attacks.
“I don’t know of any two million ceasefire demand. But I know of that truce meeting and we demanded that they should let our people use the Dangulbi–Magami–Gusau road which is just 100 kilometres but he didn’t. I know if there were any such demands, I would have been informed,” he said.
Communities in the North-west states and a portion of the North-central region of Nigeria have been targeted by marauding bandits.
This year alone, hundreds of people, including security personnel, have died while other individuals have been made homeless.