Northern-Nigeria Gang Attack Kills 17 People

Armed gangs killed 17 people after storming an illegal mining site and a nearby village in northwestern Nigeria’s Zamfara State, local authorities told AFP on Tuesday.

The attackers, described by authorities as bandits, have for years targeted rural communities across northwestern and central Nigeria, carrying out raids, abductions and attacks on homes.

Dozens of gang members on motorcycles entered a mining site outside Bindin village in Zamfara’s Maru district on Monday and shot dead five miners, authorities said.

The attackers then moved into the village, where they engaged soldiers in a gun battle and killed 12 of them, according to local authorities.

Village councillor Abdullahi Musa Mutunji confirmed the deaths and said the attack was carried out in retaliation for the killing of a bandit by miners whom the gang had previously threatened.

Lawan Wanzam told AFP that his son was among the miners killed. He said the attack was orchestrated by a local gang leader.

Informal gold mining sites in the region are regularly targeted by armed gangs seeking control of mining operations and a share of gold produced at the sites.

SOURCE: AFP