Gunmen stormed a village in northwest Nigeria killing 20 people in the latest attack by criminal gangs in the violence-wracked region, police said Wednesday.
A gang of motorcycle-riding gunmen called “bandits” by locals shot residents in Tungar Kwana in the northern Zamfara state, police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said.
Violence in Zamfara that began more than a decade ago with armed robbery and cattle rustling has spiraled into clashes over land and resources between ethnic Fulani herders and local farmers.
Last week locals tipped security forces on the location of cattle thieves, Shehu said.
“Since then the bandits have been targeting the villagers to avenge the killing of their comrades,” the police spokesman added.
The “bandits” are known to hide in camps in the Rugu forest which straddles Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, and Niger states from where they launch attacks on communities.