Gunmen Kill at Least 20 in Attack in Northwest Nigeria

Gunmen attacked a market and torched cars in Nigeria's Sokoto state, killing at least 20 people, a state official and local member of parliament said on Saturday.

Northwestern Nigeria has since last December witnessed a wave of kidnappings of school children and villagers for ransoms by bandits, disrupting everyday life for millions of citizens.

A Sokoto police spokesperson confirmed the attack but could not immediately say how many people had been killed.

Idriss Gobir, special advisor to the Sokoto police affairs minister, said the armed bandits rode on motorcycles and shot sporadically, killing several people.

"The bandits in large numbers killed at least 20 people that we have seen and counted and set nine vehicles on fire," he told Reuters by telephone.

Moreover, Hussain Boza, a local member of parliament in Sokoto, blamed the deadly attack on a lack of adequate security in the state.

In September, gunmen attacked a village in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Kaduna, killing 34 people and injuring seven others.

Criminal gangs known locally as bandits have terrorised northwest and central Nigeria for years, but they have become more brazen in recent months and the military has renewed operations in the region.

“Unidentified gunmen attacked Madamai village in Kaura … 34 residents have been confirmed dead following the attack. Seven others sustained injuries,” state security commissioner Samuel Aruwan said in a communique.