The police in Zamfara have confirmed 17 people killed in an attack by armed bandits on a community in the state.
The attack occurred in Magami Village, Faru District of Maradun Local Government Area.
A statement by the Zamfara police spokesperson, Muhammed Shehu, said the attack occurred on Saturday evening.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the attack occured at about 4 p.m.
Mr Shehu said more police officers have been deployed to the area.
He said the Acting Governor of Zamfara State, Sanusi Rikiji; the police commissioner and other heads of security agencies were at the scene in the early hours of Sunday.
The officials were there “for on the spot assessment with a view to putting in more proactive security measures that will bring lasting solutions to the security challenges in the area and other parts of the state,” he said.
“In view of the visit, the commissioner of police has deployed additional unit of Tactical teams which comprises PMF/CTU Personnel to the affected area to complement the existing security emplacement.
“The unit of the PMF/CTU personnel has already arrived the village and they were directed to operate in collaboration with the military and other security personnel to restore normalcy and prevent any security threat by any disgruntled person or group of persons.
“While the command condoles the government and people of Zamfara State over the unfortunate incident, it has also vowed to arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of this dastardly act.
“The command in this regard appeals for continued collaboration with all the security agencies in the state to bring lasting peace, safety and security to Zamfara State,” the spokesperson said.
Mr Rikiji also on Sunday attended the funeral prayer of some of the victims killed by the bandits.
Mr Rikiji, who is the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, condoled with the families of the victims and people of Maradun Emirate and described the incident as unfortunate and worrisome.
He said the state government was concerned about security matters.
“It is very disturbing, so distracting the way our people are being killed by terrorists.
“More often than not, we could not even concentrate and face our work, due to pressures of insecurity in our communities,” NAN quotes the acting govenrors as saying.
He urged security operatives in the state to maximise their efforts in tackling the challenges.
Mr Rikiji noted that the state government had been providing all necessary support to security agencies in the state.
“We are ever ready to continue to offer any support to security agencies, at whatever cost, in order to address the current security situation in the state,” he said.
He urged people of the state to continue with prayers to seek Allah’s interventions to end the situation.
The acting governor also appealed to communities to provide information on security to security agencies for prompt response.
The heads of security agencies in the state were also in attendance during the prayers.
In their separate remarks, the Emir of Maradun, Garba Tambari, and Chairman Maradun Local Government Area, Yahaya Shehu, called for the deployment of more security personnel in the area.
Hundreds of people have been killed by armed bandits in Zamfara in 2018. The killings have continued despite the deployment of thousands of security personnel including soldiers as well as air force personnel and equipment to the state.
