Armed criminals killed 60 people in a string of attacks on villages in the restive northwest of Nigeria, said medic and residents on Thursday.
Dozens of gunmen – described locally as “bandits” – riding in motorcycles raided five villages in Sabon Birni district in Sokoto state late Wednesday.
“We received a total of 60 dead bodies and several people with gunshot injuries from the villages attacked by the bandits last night,” said a nurse at the general hospital in Sabon Birni.
60 people died. The bandits killed 16 in Garki, 13 in Dan Aduwa, 22 in Kuzari, 7 in Katuma, and 2 in Masawa.
“All the bodies had bullet wounds, most of them were shot in the head,” said another medic.
Last week, Nigeria’s armed forces launched bombing raids against “bandit” camps in neighbouring areas of the northwest as part of the latest efforts to curb attacks.
Authorities have previously launched repeated military operations and local peace talks to try to end the violence.
So far neither strategy has succeeded in halting unrest that has killed an estimated 8,000 people since 2011 and displaced 200,000.
