Ekeomah Atuonwu
In the latest attacks in Nigeria’s volatile northwestern state of Kaduna, gunmen killed 32 people and destroyed dozens of homes, according to local authorities.
For years, heavily armed criminal gangs known as bandits have raided villages in northwest and central Nigeria to kidnap or kill residents, but they have become increasingly brazen.
In recent months, they have kidnapped dozens of people, massacred over 100 villagers, and killed a dozen members of vigilante groups on a passenger train between Abuja and Kaduna.
“Bandits attacked the villages of Dogon Noma, Ungwan Sarki, and Ungwan Maikori in Kajuru local government area on Sunday,” according to a statement from state security commissioner Samuel Aruwan.
“They stormed the area on motorcycles in large numbers, razed several houses, and attacked and killed locals,” he said.
The gunmen opened fire on the first two locations, killing 31 people. “They then proceeded to Ungwan Maikori, where they murdered one person and set fire to several homes,” Aruwan explained.
Before ground troops arrived, security forces dispatched a helicopter, which engaged the bandits, he added.
Armed bandits killed 2,600 civilians in 2021, up 250 percent from 2020, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army general, has been under pressure to put an end to the deadly violence before his two terms in office expire next year.
