No fewer than 56 people were killed on Friday afternoon as terrorists otherwise known as bandits attacked three villages in Bakura Local Government of Zamfara State.
A source who pleaded anonymity said the terrorists atta ked one of the villages, Sabon Garin Damri, around 2:30 p.m.
“I was in the main town when the bandits entered Sabon Garin Damri. We suddenly saw people running towards us. Then we started hearing sporadic gunshots. I was miraculously saved”.
The source who is a councilor in the area said that the bandits carried out what appears to be coordinated attacks from Sabon Garin Damri, Damri and Kalahe before a joint security team confronted them.
Another source, Mu’azu Damri, who is a resident said, “I’ll have to personally applaud them (security agents), though I believe they should have come earlier because if they came at the right time, they would have saved a lot of people. But their arrival helped because the number would have been more than that.”
On the number of casualties, he said “We counted 56 people,” the councillor said. “In Damri, only three people were killed; a girl and two other men but the remaining were all killed in Sabon Garin Damri and Kalahe. Some of them were not residents of the two communities. They were people who came from nearby villages to celebrate Eid El Fitr with their relatives”.
Even though the state police command is yet to confirm the incident, an officer from the command who spoke to Premium Times said they were aware of the situation.
Zamfara, among other states in the north have been experiencing many attacks from bandits, forcing most communities to form vigilantes groups to protect the lives and properties of the Villagers.
