Story highlights Armed robbery has been a long-running problem in Zamfara's gold mining communities

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) Twenty six people, including 16 illegal gold miners, were killed after gunmen attacked several villages in northwest Nigerian state of Zamfara, state police said Friday.

Armed bandits stormed a mining site in a remote village late Wednesday shooting at residents, Mohammed Shehu, a spokesman for the Kaduna State police told CNN.

"They ambushed 16 illegal gold miners and shot at them. Four people who heard the gunshots and ran to the site to assist were killed. They attacked another village and killed six people," Shehu said.

Dozens of armed men stormed Kuru Kuru village Wednesday evening, demanding gold from miners before opening fire, one resident said.

"They came when the miners were coming from the forest in the evening and started shooting asking for gold. They shot at everyone in sight as they escaped," Amisu Ahiru told CNN.

Read More </s> KANO, Nigeria — Nigerian officials say armed bandits have killed 36 gold miners in northwest Zamfara state.

Survivor Isa Muhammad said many people are wounded and about 20 are missing. He said more than 50 gunmen invaded the informal mining site at Gidan Ardo Monday afternoon and seized people's belongings.

He said no security forces had arrived by Tuesday morning and residents fear another attack.

Police deputy superintendent Shehu Muhammad said soldiers and an anti-terrorism squad are on their way.

Zamfara state Gov. Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar promised to hunt down the perpetrators of the "act of terrorism."

Nigeria is suffering an Islamic uprising in the northeast, militants attacking oil installations in the south, deadly conflict between nomadic herders and farmers in the , cattle rustling, kidnappings and banditry. </s> Armed bandits stormed a mining site in a remote village late Wednesday shooting at residents, Mohammed Shehu, a spokesman for the Kaduna State police told CNN.

"They ambushed 16 illegal gold miners and shot at them. Four people who heard the gunshots and ran to the site to assist were killed. They attacked another village and killed six people," Shehu said.

Dozens of armed men stormed Kuru Kuru village Wednesday evening, demanding gold from miners before opening fire, one resident said.

"They came when the miners were coming from the forest in the evening and started shooting asking for gold. They shot at everyone in sight as they escaped," Amisu Ahiru told CNN.

Zamfara State Commissioner for Information, Muhammed Danjari, told CNN a mass burial was held for those killed Thursday. "These attacks are very frequent and we need help," Danjari told CNN, saying 32 people were killed in a similar attack last month. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari visited Zamfara last month to console families and communities that suffered from violent clashes in the state. Two Americans and two Canadians kidnapped at gunpoint in Nigeria Armed robbery has been a long-running problem in Zamfara's gold mining communities where artisanal mining poses environmental and health hazards to residents. A Médecins Sans Frontières report estimates 400 children died of exposure to lead and 30,000 others were poisoned in the northwestern state in the world's worst recorded outbreak of lead poisoning in 2012. </s> BAUCHI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen have killed more than 30 gold miners in a remote area of northern Nigeria, police said on Tuesday.

The attackers raided a camp of artisan miners late on Monday in the Maru area in the northwestern state of Zamfara, police spokesman Muhammed Shehu said.

The gunmen stole nothing, he said, adding that the motive for the attack was unclear.

In March gunmen attacked a camp in the same state, killing one miner in what a police official described as possible conflict between miners.

Nigeria has been trying to attract investment in its nascent mining sector but insecurity and a lack of data has dampened appetite of foreign firms. </s> The attackers raided a camp of artisan miners late on Monday in the Maru area in the northwestern state of Zamfara, police spokesman Muhammed Shehu said.

The gunmen stole nothing, he said, adding that the motive for the attack was unclear.

In March gunmen attacked a camp in the same state, killing one miner in what a police official described as possible conflict between miners.

Nigeria has been trying to attract investment in its nascent mining sector but insecurity and a lack of data has dampened appetite of foreign firms. </s> LAGOS: Nigerian police claimed on Friday that over 100 “bandits” had been killed in a crackdown targeting crime in the northwest state of Zamfara, following a surge in kidnappings for ransom and cattle rustling. Zamfara has been plagued by violent crime over the past year, with Amnesty International warning in July that people living in the impoverished state were “at the mercy” of armed bandits who take hostages and raid villages. A joint operation team on Thursday “repelled ambush attacks from armed bandits” at Mahanga Forest in Zamfara State and “in the process killed one hundred and four bandits,” national police spokesman Jimoh Moshood said in a statement. </s> Bandits have on Wednesday attacked two villages in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara, killing some people.

The bandits attacked a mining site at Kuru-kuru village and also ambushed some people from the neighbouring Jarkuka village as they mobilised to bring help to Kuru-kuru.

A witness, Sadi Musa, said scores of people were killed at the mining site on Wednesday evening which forced the miners to flee for safety.

Musa said when residents from the nearby Jarkuka came later to join the Kuru-kuru survivors in burying the dead, the gunmen attacked again, and killed more people.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Mohammed Shehu said, “we are aware of the attack but I cannot give you details now until my commissioner is fully briefed’’.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the bandits had attacked Bawan Daji village in the same Anka Local Government Area two weeks ago and killed over 30 people.

They returned the following day and killed mourners at a graveyard.

This led to the deployment of Air Force and Army personnel to the area to contain the situation.

The soldiers had since swung into action and killed several bandits.

(NAN)

DOWNLOAD THE PUNCH NEWS APP NOW ON </s> Kano, Nigeria: At least 26 people were killed after cattle thieves raided several villages in Nigeria´s northern Sokoto state, police said Tuesday.



Armed bandits on motorcycles attacked Warwana, Tabkin Kwasa and Dutsi, a trio of neighbouring villages in Rabah district, late Sunday, shooting residents as they fled.

"Twenty six people were killed in the attack -- they included 24 males and two females," Sokoto state police commissioner Murtala Usman Mani told AFP.

"The criminals came on motorcycles and attacked three herding settlements, shooting people," said Mani, who attended the victims´ funerals on Monday.

Residents said the gunmen rode into the villages on two dozen motorcycles, three men on each.

"They attacked around 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) and began shooting people without warning," Warwana resident Kabiru Jabbi said.

The three villages border Zamfara state where kidnapping and cattle rustling gangs operate.

The gunmen were believed to have launched the attacks from Zamfara forests where the gangs are based, Mani said.

In July last year armed bandits killed more than 30 people and torched homes in raids on five villages bordering Sokoto and Zamfara states, two of them in Rabah district.

Farming and herding communities in Zamfara state have long been terrorised by such gangs who raid villages, stealing cattle, kidnapping residents for ransom and burning homes.

The incessant attacks prompted villages to form local vigilante groups as a protection force but they are themselves accused of extrajudicial killings of suspected bandits.

The killings by vigilantes attract reprisals by motorcycle-riding criminal gangs who carry out indiscriminate killings and burn villages in retaliation.

In April, the Nigerian central government deployed troops to Zamfara to combat the gangs while police outlawed the vigilantes to end the tit-for-tat killings.

It was not clear whether the latest attacks were connected with the face-off between the bandits and vigilante groups. </s> Cattle thieves have killed 23 people in northern Nigeria's Zamfara state which has been battling cattle rustling and kidnapping in recent months, a local government official said late Saturday.

Armed bandits on motorcycles invaded Zanoka village in the state on Friday, opening fire on residents and burning homes, said Mustapha Muhammad, the chairman of the local government area.

"We buried 23 people killed in the attack, including vigilantes who tried to fight off the bandits", he said.

"They torched homes and burnt some of their victims alive before fleeing into the bush".

Muhammad said the gunmen had earlier on Friday invaded the remote village, carting away some cattle but were forced to flee by local vigilantes who fought them off and reclaimed the stolen herd.
Armed bandits storm a mining site in the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara, killing 26 people, including 16 illegal gold miners.