A village in northern Nigeria has been left in mourning after gunmen killed 17 people over the weekend.
According to AFP, Nigerian police confirmed the incident which took place in Magami village in the Maradun district area of the state on Saturday, when gunmen on motorcycles shot indiscriminately as residents fled.
“After the attack, we collected 17 dead bodies which we buried,” Magami resident Kasimu Bello said.
“The gunmen entered the village on several motorcycles, shooting people as they tried to flee,” he said.
Another resident Umaru Bawa confirmed the attack, saying “the bandits pursued people like chickens and shot them dead as they ran into the bush.”
Zamfara state police spokesperson Mohammed Shehu said his operatives would arrest and “bring to justice the perpetrators of this dastardly act”.
He also vowed to end the rampant armed attacks in the state.
On Wednesday, 25 people were killed when gunmen raided two villages in Birnin Magaji district of the state.
Farming and herding communities in Zamfara have for years been wracked by cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom, prompting villagers to form vigilante gangs as a protection force.
However the villagers too are accused of carrying out extra-judicial killings of suspected bandits, leading to tit-for-tat violence.
