’20 dead’ as bandits sack Zamfara communities 

About 20 bodies have been found around a stream, a day after suspected bandits attacked Yan-Kukoki and Danbanda communities in Gummi LGA, Zamfara state, TheCable has learnt. 

One of the residents who escaped the attack told TheCable that the bandits came on Wednesday morning and that their intention was to steal cows.

But the villagers were said to taken to the bush when the bandits started shooting.

“People were running, and some fell into the stream, some were shot at. We didn’t know anything until we started seeing their bodies, and now we have counted 20,” the source said.

Residents who also spoke to TheCable said they had suspected the movement of the bandits around the area about a week ago. 

One of the village heads, TheCable understands, had called the authorities at the LGA to report the suspicious movement of the bandits. 

The bandits were said to have infiltrated the communities and carried out simultaneous attacks. 

“They came in large numbers around 9am,” a resident of Yan-Kukoki told TheCable. 

The bandits who were said to have used the Gummi-Sokoto road also operated in Danbanda, a village 3 kilometres away from Gummi town. 

Sources in the area said five people were abducted during the attack. 

On the Gummi-Gusau road where the bandits also struck, sources said 10 people were abducted. 

“In fact, they burnt some vehicles on this road,” one of the sources said. 

As of Thursday morning, TheCable understands that soldiers are now on patrol in the area. 

“Yes, we have seen up to 10 army trucks coming in,” another resident told TheCable. 

A source told TheCable that the bandits had just created an operational base in Birsawa forest which is between Zamfara and Sokoto.

“They have been in that forest for three days now, and I can tell you, they are still there,” the source said.

Muhammed Shehu, police spokesperson in the state, however dismissed the report.

“It is not correct. Gummi is calm,” he told TheCable.  

In the past months, the state has been terrorised by bandits who have killed hundreds of residents.

TheCable had reported that the state has the second-highest number of deaths from non-state actors in the first quarter of 2022, with 327 cases.

In June, the state government directed residents to arm themselves against bandits.