At least 54 people died last Saturday after armed men launched separate attacks in the Nigerian states of Zamfara (northwest) and Benue (center), civil society organizations confirmed to EFE today.
In Zamfara, in northwestern Nigeria, the Gunmen stormed several villages in the Maradun local government area, killing at least 30 people and injuring several.
“The bandits, in large numbers, invaded Sakida and other towns in Maradun on Saturday afternoon, shooting anyone they saw,” Attahiru Mohammed, secretary of the Zamfara Civil Society Coalition (ZASCON), told EFE by phone.
”They raided houses and forced some villagers out before killing them. No less than 30 corpses of defenseless villagers have been recovered.”Mohammed added.
The ZASCON secretary also reported that an unknown number of people who were injured are receiving treatment at the hospital.
In the attack in Benue, armed men on motorcycles invaded communities in the Katsina-Ala local government area, killing at least 24 peopleas confirmed to EFE by phone Ongu Anngu, president of the Benue Youth Congress (BYC) party.
”They arrived on various motorcycles and shot sporadically. They also burned several houses. We have not yet determined the reason for the attack or who carried it out,” Anngu said.
The BYC president warned that many residents who survived the attacks had fled the towns in fear of further attacks.
For her part, the Benue Police spokeswoman, Catherine Anene, confirmed the incident, but gave no further information, noting that they are still “working on the details.”
Some Nigerian states – especially in the center and northwest of the country – suffer incessant attacks by “bandits”, a term used in the country to name criminal gangs that commit mass robberies and kidnappings for large ransoms.
Benue, one of Nigeria’s main food producers, has seen in recent years violence between local farmers, predominantly Christians, and Fulani herdsmen, of Muslim origin, due to scarcity of land and resources.
Added to this insecurity is that caused since 2009 by the activity of the jihadist group Boko Haram in the northeast of the country and, as of 2016, also by its split, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP, for its acronym in English). ).
(with information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com