Gunmen kill dozens in Nigeria

Suspected Lakurawa attackers have targeted several villages in a coordinated assault

Armed Islamist bandits have raided communities in Kebbi state in Nigeria, killing at least 34 people, according to local news agencies. 

Gunmen believed to be members of the Lakurawa group targeted villages in coordinated raids that took place on Wednesday from morning through the afternoon, according to the Daily Post. Residents were reportedly caught off guard when the assailants stormed the communities and opened fire.

Kebbi Police Public Relations Officer Bashir Usman stated that the suspected assailants invaded the district in order to rustle cattle, but “during the attack, residents of Mamunu, Awasaka, Tungan Tsoho, Makangara, Kanzo, Gorun Naidal and Dan Mai Ago mobilized in response to the invasion,” which led to the deaths, The Punch newspaper reported.

Security sources cited by Vanguard said 16 people were killed in Mamunu, five in Awashaka, three in Masama, and two each in five other villages. 

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Security forces were later deployed to the affected communities to protect survivors and block possible escape routes used by the attackers. 

Nigeria’s northwest region has been plagued by an upsurge in mass kidnappings carried out by armed gangs who use forest hideouts. The groups have attacked villages, schools, and places of worship.

As part of ongoing counterterrorism efforts in northwestern Nigeria, the military said in January that troops rescued more than 60 hostages and killed two Lakurawa militants during separate operations in Kebbi and Zamfara states. Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Olaniyi Osoba stated that forces carried out a raid on a suspected hideout in Zamfara’s Munhaye forest following intelligence that civilians were being held there. 

Earlier last month, more than 160 worshippers were abducted from two churches in Kaduna stated, but the state’s police commissioner, Muhammad Rabiu, dismissed the reports as a “falsehood” being spread “to cause chaos.”

READ MORE: Dozens of hostages rescued in Nigeria

The Lakurawa group combines banditry and Islamist ideology in its activities and operates in northwestern parts of the country, mainly in Kebbi and Sokoto states. Although it has recently been linked to Islamic State-Sahel Province (ISSP), which is gradually moving towards the borders of Nigeria, Lakurawa is largely autonomous.