At least, 18 people have been confirmed dead and several others injured after an attack by bandits in Kadaddaba in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The attack, which lasted from 10 p.m. on Friday to 4 a.m. on Saturday, was the first recorded in the village.

Kadaddaba is a few kilometres from the Federal Government College, Anka and is also not far from Anka town.

Bandits have been attacking rural communities, kidnapping people for ransom and rustling cattle for many years in the Northwestern part of Nigeria.

Banditry is the code name in the region for organised crimes like kidnapping, cattle rustling, mass abduction, arson and even armed robbery.

Bandits recently killed over 200 people in one of the worst atrocities attributed to bandits, in Anka and Bukkuyum local government areas.

A resident of Anka town, Ibrahim Danda, told our correspondent that the bandits stormed the village for the latest attack on motorcycles.

“From what I have gathered, the bandits surrounded the whole village while others went in. They conducted house to house search, collecting money, foodstuff and domestic animals before they started shooting sporadically. Some of the residents who have run into the town (Anka) said those killed were either running or tried to resist the bandits’ attempt to take their valuables,” he said.

On the number of those killed, Danda, who is a lawyer, said the residents buried 16 people Saturday morning after the bandits left while two persons died at the General Hospital, Anka.

“Those who were severely injured were brought to the hospital and two of them died today; one immediately he was brought while the other a few minutes before you called me (3:47 p.m). I was at the hospital, I couldn’t count the number of those who have been admitted,” he said.

Another resident of Anka, Ansar Aliyu, said he heard the gunshots while the community was being attacked.

“I started hearing gunshots around 11 p.m and though I didn’t knew from where it was coming, I knew that it was from that axis (Kadaddaba). In the morning, the Imam in our mosque announced that there had been an attack on Kadaddaba.”

The state police spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu, could not be reached for comment as his known phone number failed to connect. An SMS sent to him was also not responded to.

PT