Local officials say gunmen killed more than 20 people in Zamfara villages

Local officials said gunmen killed more than 20 people on Wednesday in villages in Zamfara state, northwestern Nigeria, in violence blamed on armed criminal gangs known locally as bandits.

Nasiru Lauwali, a councillor representing Sauna district in Talata Mafara local government area, said the attackers opened fire at about 3:00 p.m. local time, or 1400 GMT, killing 21 people. Alhaji Shehu Garba, secretary of Sauna district, said the attacks hit five villages and put the death toll at 23, most of them farmers.

Garba said three other people wounded by gunfire were taken to Talata Mafara General Hospital and later transferred to a teaching hospital in neighbouring Sokoto state. Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The report said the attacks reflect continuing insecurity in northwestern and central Nigeria, where heavily armed gangs raid villages, steal livestock, kidnap residents for ransom and carry out deadly assaults. It said Nigerian authorities are also dealing with a long-running jihadist insurgency in the northeast and separatist unrest elsewhere.

The gangs are described as largely motivated by financial gain and as not publicly claiming an ideology. The report said authorities and security analysts have expressed concern about growing ties between some bandit groups and jihadist militants.