Nigeria: 17 people killed by gunmen in village attack

Armed men, members of criminal gangs, killed 17 farmers in an attack on a rural community in northwestern Nigeria, a local official said Saturday.

Traveling on several motorcycles, they opened fire on Friday in the village of Tungar Baure, in Zamfara State, Yahaya Abubakar Yari, administrator of the Talata Mafara district, told AFP.

"The criminals killed 17 people and abducted an undetermined number during the attack on the village," said Mr. Yari, who attended the victims' funeral.

With the annual rainy season having begun a few weeks ago, jihadists and criminal gangs – whether kidnappers demanding ransoms or cattle rustlers known locally as "bandits" – have intensified their attacks on farming communities in northern and central Nigeria who do not pay the taxes they impose.

"Communities in the district are suffering from incessant attacks by bandits due to insufficient security forces," lamented Mr. Yari.

The attack took place in the home district of Nigerian Defense Minister Bello Muhammad Matawalle, who had pledged to deploy 2,000 troops to help fight these gangs.

A video seen by AFP shows many angry residents of Tungar Baure erecting barricades on a road to protest the killings and demand the deployment of security forces.

On June 12, "bandits" had already killed 17 farmers and wounded five others while they were working in their fields in a village in the neighboring district of Maradun, according to local officials and residents.

These recurring acts of violence have forced many farmers to abandon their land. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that such attacks could "exacerbate poverty and food insecurity" in the country.