Residents said 18 people were reportedly killed on Sunday morning after gunmen loyal to a notorious bandit kingpin, Damina, attacked Kango and Dangulbi villages in Maru Local Government Area in Zamfara.
Residents from the communities said several people who fled the attack are yet to return.
Maru Local Government is a hotbed for banditry in the state.
The 18 victims were buried according to Islamic rites after the attack, a village leader, who asked not to be named, said.
Another source, Shehu Ismaila, a resident of Maru town said 13 people were killed in Dangulbi while five were killed in Kango. Mr Ismaila is from Dangulbi.
Mr Ismaila said the bandits attacked Kango first before moving to Dangulbi where they killed some of the residents working on 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.
He added that the five killed in Kango were all shot.
He said their burial was delayed till evening because “all the residents fled.”
A resident of Dansadau, Yusuf Abdullahi, said his sister-in-law almost got caught up in the attack when she went to spend the Sallah holiday in Dangulbi community with her aunt.
“She has called to say she was fine but one of their neighbours was killed while several people in the house she went to are still missing,” he said.
It is believed many of those missing are hiding in the bush and may return.
Mr Ismaila told PREMIUM TIMES that last week, the bandits’ leader, Damina, demanded N2 million
from Dangulbi community as ‘protection levy’. He said members of the community were unable to raise the money.
However, the village leader said a truce was reached with Damina and they did not expect he would attack 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.
The police spokesman in the state, Mohammed Shehu, didn’t respond to calls and SMS sent to him for comments about the attack.
Marauding bandits have been attacking communities in the North-west states and a part of North-central Nigeria.
Hundreds of people including security agents have been killed this year alone while others have been rendered homeless.
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