Shoot anyone they see.. Bandits kill dozens in Nigeria
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At least 200 people were killed in several attacks by armed men this week in the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara, a Nigerian government spokeswoman told AFP on Sunday.
For years, areas in central and northwestern Nigeria have witnessed clashes between cattle herders and farmers over the control of land, and members of criminal gangs called "bandits" have carried out killings, looting and kidnappings.
"It is a tragedy. More than 200 people have been buried...due to the bandit invasion," said spokeswoman for Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Saadia Omar Farouk.
"We are also concerned about the displaced, who are fleeing in their hundreds," the minister added.
And she continued: "More than 10,000 have become homeless after their homes were flattened by bandits, while dozens are still missing."
On Saturday, four residents confirmed to AFP that armed men stormed the regions of Anka and Pokoyom over two days, killing at least 140 people.
Hundreds of armed men arrived on motorbikes and attacked 10 villages in the Anka and Boko districts on Wednesday and Thursday, shooting residents and looting and burning homes, local residents confirmed.
The citizen Babandi Hamido, who lives in the village of Korfa Dania, said that the gunmen who stormed the village were shooting "at everyone they saw."
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