Gunmen have killed 24 people, including eight soldiers and a policeman, in two separate attacks in northwest and central Nigeria over the weekend, residents and aid workers said on Monday.
On Sunday, gangs killed 13 people in an ambush on a convoy of traders heading to a local market in Bukkuyum district of northwestern Zamfara state, three residents told AFP.
The convoy from Gwashi was heading to Gurusu for a weekly market when bandits opened fire, the sources said. Three Bukkuyum residents said 13 people had been killed.
“The bandits killed 13 people in the ambush, including eight soldiers, one policeman and four traders, including a woman,” said Lawal Muhammad, a local chief in Bukkuyum. Eleven people, including three soldiers, were wounded and taken to hospital, he said.
Vehicles damaged
The attackers ransacked vehicles and looted merchandise before burning three vehicles in the convoy, said Jamilu Umar, a Bukkuyum resident.
In a separate incident, suspected terrorists killed 11 people in an incursion in Borgu district of central Niger state near the border with Benin, two aid workers said.
Both said 11 people had been killed in the attack overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
“The Lakurawa terrorists killed 11 people, four of them vigilantes providing security to the village,” one said. Another said residents had fled into Benin for fear of renewed attacks.
