Gunmen kill 10 in revenge attack in northern Nigeria

About 300 gunmen raided a village in north-western Nigeria in a revenge attack, killing 10 people, burning cars and stealing cattle, police said. The assailants “invaded” Kirtawa village in Katsina state late Saturday, shooting residents and stealing cows, regional police spokesman Gambo Isah said in a statement.

“Ten persons were found dead, five injured,” Isah said. The bandits set fire to five cars and four motorcycles after stealing “an unspecified number of cows”, he said.

Police said the gunmen opened fire on security forces as they arrived on the scene, shooting out the tyres of an armoured vehicle and wounding a soldier and a paramilitary officer, before fleeing. 

The raid was a “reprisal attack” for an earlier assault on the bandits by vigilantes from the village, police said. Katsina state has seen a surge in attacks by kidnapping and cattle rustling gangs, prompting villagers to form vigilantes groups to defend themselves.

The bandit gangs maintain camps in Rugu forest which straddles Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger states. Last week gunmen killed six people when they raided three villages in Katsina’s Kankara district.

About 300 gunmen raided a village in north-western Nigeria in a revenge attack, killing 10 people, burning cars and stealing cattle, police said. The assailants “invaded” Kirtawa village in Katsina state late Saturday, shooting residents and stealing cows, regional police spokesman Gambo Isah said in a statement.

“Ten persons were found dead, five injured,” Isah said. The bandits set fire to five cars and four motorcycles after stealing “an unspecified number of cows”, he said.

Police said the gunmen opened fire on security forces as they arrived on the scene, shooting out the tyres of an armoured vehicle and wounding a soldier and a paramilitary officer, before fleeing.

The raid was a “reprisal attack” for an earlier assault on the bandits by vigilantes from the village, police said. Katsina state has seen a surge in attacks by kidnapping and cattle rustling gangs, prompting villagers to form vigilantes groups to defend themselves.

The bandit gangs maintain camps in Rugu forest which straddles Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger states. Last week gunmen killed six people when they raided three villages in Katsina’s Kankara district.