Several gunmen attacked a mosque and killed four people during prayers at Kawddi village, Zamfara State.
The gunmen also injured eight other people who were also at prayers within the mosque in the attack which occurred at about 8pm on Tuesday in Zurmi Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
Confirming the killings, a spokesman for the Zamfara State Police Command, Mr Muhammad Shehu said the gunmen had invaded the village in large numbers and started shooting sporadically. Four people lay dead at the end of the carnage while eight others lay critically injured.
Kwaddi village is situated on the border with Niger Republic and is surrounded by rocks and thick forests. This terrain often makes it difficult for security operatives to respond to emergency situations in the area. The Police however disclosed that security operatives have been deployed in the village to forestall further attacks and restore peace to the area.
A similar attack had also occurred on five villages last week Tuesday within Gidan Goga district of Maradun LGA of Zamfara state; three people were killed during this particular attack and Bandits had also been blamed for the attacks.
In that particular attack the police had reported that it had reported swiftly to the attack which made the bandits flee the scene after killing three people.
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Eyewitnesses however tell a different tale as they reported over 30 people dead during the attack disputing the official story of the Police who keep insisting that only three people died.
Whatever the figures may be, the Police and eyewitnesses agree that attacks were carried out simultaneously in the early hours of the day and there was a lot of casualties on the part of the villagers.
The villagers also added that the invaders stormed the villages on motorbikes, shooting sporadically at residents and carting away their livestock.
Bloodletting by armed bandits has become quite prominent in Zamfara state that had been spared the carnage of Boko Haram. As it stands the insecurity in Northern Nigeria as a whole seems to be on a precipice.
While Boko Haram rampages in the North-East, Rogue Fulani herdsmen have turned the middle belt to killing fields and the extreme North is being constantly raided by bandits and other criminal elements