Motorbike gang kills nine in Nigeria's Zamfara state

A criminal gang killed nine farmers on Friday in Nigeria's northwest Zamfara state, an official and two residents said.

Zamfara is the epicentre of attacks by gangs of heavily armed men, known locally as bandits, that have wreaked havoc across Nigeria's northwest in recent years, kidnapping thousands, killing hundreds and making it unsafe to travel by road or on farms in some areas.

Motorcycle-riding gang rounded up a group of farmers working their fields outside Jangebe village in Talata Mafara district, kidnapping around 15 others, the sources said.

"Bandits attacked the farmers and killed nine of them," Yahaya Yari Abubakar, political administrator of Talata Mafara district, told AFP.

Village vigilante

"The attackers kidnapped around 15 other farmers, and they are yet to make contact," said Abubakar, who attended the funeral of the nine who were killed.

The victims included the head of the village's vigilante self-defence group and his five comrades, along with three residents, said Abu Zaki, a Jangebe resident.

"Everybody is now afraid of going to the farm for fear of being attacked," said another resident, Bello Ahmadu, who gave the same toll.

The village was the scene in 2021 of the mass abduction of more than 300 girls from a boarding school. The girls were freed days later after authorities intervened.

Zamfara's state government has recruited vigilantes to assist the military in fighting the gangs.

Last month, vigilantes, with the aid of Nigeria's secret police, killed around 100 bandits when they raided the enclave of a bandit kingpin in the state's Shinkafi district, according officials.