NIGERIA: Twenty people were killed after suspected armed robbers attacked a village in the state of Zamfara

Record ID: 235807

  • Title: NIGERIA: Twenty people were killed after suspected armed robbers attacked a village in the state of Zamfara
  • Date: 1st November 2012
  • Summary: ZAMFARA, NIGERIA (OCTOBER 31, 2012) (REUTERS) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) VARIOUS BODIES WRAPPED IN MATS AND CLOTHING SURROUNDED BY VILLAGERS, SECURITY OPERATIVES AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WITH AN IMAM SAYING PRAYERS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CARRYING BODIES TO THE BURIAL GROUND BODIES BEING PUT IN GRAVES (SOUNDBITE) (Hausa) MAI WADA, VILLAGE HEAD, SAYING: "The people of Zamfara have been living with this kind of problem, because unfortunately, we are located in a thick forest which shares borders with Kaduna, Niger, and Katsina states, so all the criminals that have been driven from these states take refuge in our forest and the most painful thing is that our vigilantes try and catch these criminals and hand them over to the security authorities but few days later, these criminals will be released and they would just come back to our villages and kill those who arrested them, it is painful." VARIOUS OF INJURED VICTIMS WITH BLOOD STAINS (SOUNDBITE) (Hausa) MUSA ISSAH, A VICTIM, SAYING: "It was in the early hours of the morning, when we were going to the mosque to pray, we heard people shouting, the next thing, the gunmen started shooting at people, others were struck with machetes, they were saying that today they don't need money but human lives. One of them attacked me with a machete, I used my hand to defend myself then I took off running, they chased me, but God insisted that I will not die today." INJURED MAN
  • Embargoed: 16th November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Reuters ID: LVAEZUDR9KMHZXWPBXG0OOQVMT49
  • Story Text: Gunmen suspected to be armed robbers have killed 20 people in a village in the northwest Nigerian state of Zamfara, authorities said on Wednesday (October 31), a similar attack to one in June.
    Dozens of men armed with guns stormed Kaburu village early on Tuesday morning, demanding money before shooting and hacking people to death, local residents said.
    "It was in the early hours of the morning, when we were going to the mosque to pray, we heard people shouting, the next thing, the gunmen started shooting at people, others were struck with machetes, they were saying that today they don't need money but human lives. One of them attacked me with a machete, I used my hand to defend myself then I took off running, they chased me, but God insisted that I will not die today," said Musa Issah, a victim.
    At least 27 people were killed in June when suspected armed robbers attacked several villages in Zamfara.
    Islamist sect Boko Haram has killed hundreds across the north this year in its campaign for an Islamic state in a country split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims.
    Mai Wada, the village head said the prevailing situation is beyond the control of the residents in Zamfara state.
    "The people of Zamfara have been living with this kind of problem, because unfortunately, we are located in a thick forest which shares borders with Kaduna, Niger, and Katsina states, so all the criminals that have been driven from these states take refuge in our forest and the most painful thing is that our vigilantes try and catch these criminals and hand them over to the security authorities but few days later these criminals will be released and they would just come back to our villages and kill those who arrested them, it is painful," Wada said.
    Boko Haram mostly attack in north-eastern Borno state and its capital Maiduguri, the sect's base, but a recent military crackdown there has pushed its insurgency into other areas.
    On Sunday, a suicide bomber drove a jeep full of explosives into a church in Kaduna, about 70 miles (113 km) from the Zamfara border, killing eight people and triggering reprisals that killed at least two more.
    A breakdown of law and order has created opportunities for armed gangs driven more by money than ideology. Nigeria's mainly Muslim north celebrated the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday at the end of last week. Violent crimes often increase in Nigeria around holidays when people carry more cash. Zamfara, at the base of the Sahel in the far northwest of Africa's most populous nation, shares a border with Niger.
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