Three residents were killed while several others were abducted when terrorists attacked Gidan Shaho and Nasarawar-Zurmi, in Zurmi local government area of Zamfara State on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The Friday attack on Gidan Shaho, a community five kilometres away from the local government headquarters, Zurmi, reportedly began around 10:00 p.m. and lasted for about two hours.
According to a youth leader, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told newsmen that one person was shot dead while other injured residents were taken to Zurmi General Hospital for treatment.
He said, “The attack was well planned because they (terrorists) were deliberate in selecting houses they attacked. In most of the houses they entered, they set food silos ablaze. So we believed they had information on who and who had foodstuff”.
It was gathered that several people, including women and children, were also abducted during the attack. “Immediately they (terrorists) left, several residents began moving to the town (Zurmi),” the youth leader said, adding that several villages in the local government are becoming deserted due to the activities of terrorists.
He added that another group of terrorists struck Nasarawa Zurmi on Saturday a little after 10:00 p.m. and killed two people.
The State’s Police Command spokesperson, Yazid Abubakar, did not respond to calls and SMS sent to him on the attacks.
The security situation in the North-West and some parts of the North-Central zones have been deteriorating despite efforts by security agents, state governments and vigilante groups to address the challenges.Terrorists, who are locally called bandits, have killed, abducted and displaced hundreds of thousands of people by attacking rural and urban communities, schools, religious places and others in the last ten years.
