Gunmen kill more than 20 in northwest Nigeria villages
Gunmen killed more than 20 people in villages in Nigeria's northwestern Zamfara state on Wednesday, officials told AFP, the latest violence blamed on gangs that have terrorised the region for years.
The attacks underscore the persistent insecurity gripping northwestern and central Nigeria, where heavily armed gangs known locally as "bandits" raid villages, steal livestock, kidnap residents for ransom and carry out deadly assaults.
The bandits killed 21 people when they opened fire at around 3:00 pm (1400 GMT), Nasiru Lauwali, a councillor representing the Sauna district in Talata Mafara local government area, told AFP.
Sauna district secretary Alhaji Shehu Garba said the attacks struck five villages and put the death toll at 23, most of them farmers.
Three others wounded by gunfire were taken to Talata Mafara General Hospital and later transferred to the teaching hospital in neighbouring Sokoto state, Garba added.
Police did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.
Violence by criminal gangs in northwestern and central Nigeria remains one of a string of security challenges facing the country's authorities, who are also battling a long-running jihadist insurgency in the northeast and separatist unrest elsewhere.
While the gangs are largely motivated by financial gain and do not publicly espouse an ideology, authorities and security analysts have expressed concern over growing ties between some bandit groups and jihadist militants.
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