Nigeria: 43 dead following two criminal attacks
Forty-three people were killed by gunmen in two separate attacks earlier this week in northwestern Nigeria, according to a new report released Wednesday evening November 17 by local authorities. A previous report on Monday reported 15 dead.
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Criminal gangs, known locally as "bandits", regularly set fire and bloodshed in the center and northwest of Africa's most populous country. Attacks have intensified in recent months. During the night from Sunday to Monday, dozens of assailants stormed the towns of Illela and Goronyo, in the state of Sokoto.
The Sokoto state government said in a statement on Wednesday that the death toll from the attacks now stands at 43. “It's not a low number. It's very sad. This incident touches us a lot, ”said Sokoto Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwa, quoted in the press release.
Prevention attempts
Since September, Nigerian security forces have been carrying out air and ground offensives on bandit camps in the neighboring state of Zamfara, the epicenter of the violence. The bandits, fleeing the military operations carried out in Zamfara, have established camps near the border with Niger, notably in Sokoto, from where they launch attacks against communities.
Last October, bandits opened fire on a market in Goronyo, killing 43 traders. An attack that occurred just days after that of another market, this time in the town of Sabon Birni, in which 19 people lost their lives.
Even if the criminal gangs have no a priori ideological claim, suspicions linked to the infiltration of jihadists within them are arousing growing concern. Outside the northwestern and central states, Nigeria is battling a 12-year-old jihadist insurgency in the northeast of the country.
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In a separate meeting with military officers on Monday, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal warned that the bandits were "turning into terrorists". In particular, he called on the Nigerian government to step up measures to stem the spiral of violence.
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