Suspected bandits in the evening of Sunday attacked a market in Goronyo local government area of Sokoto State and reportedly killed scores of people in the market.
The bandits, according to a source, came in their large numbers with motorcycles and opened fire at any object on sight in the market.
The source said, “This happened when people were already preparing to return to their homes.”
Though there are conflicting reports on the actual number of persons killed by the bandits, some of the people that escaped by the whiskers claimed that about 80 persons might have been killed by the bandits.
One of the locals, who claimed to have lost over four relatives, said it was not only a gory sight but also disturbing.
He said, “As I am talking to you now, most of our people have ran away from Goronyo to take refuge in the metropolis. All our villages are not safe. We have been living in perpetual fears.
“These brutal bandits come at will, kill our loved ones. Rustled our cows, cart away our foodstuffs, rape and whisk away our women and girls uninterrupted”.
Confirming the incident when the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya, paid a courtesy call at the Sokoto Government House, Governor Aminu Tambuwal said the Army operation in Zamfara State has worsened the security situation in Sokoto lately.
Tambuwal, who noted that people were killed in their tens when bandits struck on Sunday, appealed to the COAS to reinforce security presence in the state.
When contacted, the State Police Command spokesperson, ASP Abubakar Sadiq, did not pick his call nor respond to text message sent to him over the development.
