At least 12 persons have been confirmed dead after an attack by armed bandits on Sakajiki village in Kaura Namoda Emirate in Zamfara State.
The incident was confirmed by the Police Public Relations Officer in Zamfara, Mohammed Shehu, on Friday.
According to Shehu, the attack was carried out at about 9pm on Thursday.
He added that the casualties recorded in the incident would have been more if not for the prompt response of the security operatives deployed to the area.
An eyewitness revealed that the assailants stormed the community at night and operated for several hours without interruption.
According to the resident, the attackers operated till around 4am on Friday morning after which 12 persons were found dead.
It was gathered that the hoodlums set several shops and other houses ablaze, including an edifice of a police outpost in the area, as well as several vehicles – one of which was a police patrol van.
Another source explained that the persons who were confirmed dead were those whose bodies were brought to the open, while a search for those not seen was ongoing.
The team of police mobile force operatives, according to him, tried their best to repel the attack, but they were purportedly overpowered by the bandits.
Shehu, on his part, disclosed that the commissioner of police in Zamfara has deployed an additional squad for reinforcement.
He assured the people of the area that the command would redouble its efforts to ensure that banditry was wiped out of the state.
