Written by: Badr Ahmed

At least 24 farmers were killed and several others were injured in an attack by gunmen on motorcycles on remote farming villages in Zamfara State, northwestern Nigeria, in the latest episode of violence in the region, which has been suffering for years from escalating attacks by armed gangs known locally as bandits. .

Local residents told Reuters that on Tuesday, attackers stormed villages in the Saona area of the Talata Mafara local government and attacked farmers working in the fields, firing randomly at them, resulting in dozens of casualties, both dead and wounded.

24 farmers killed in armed attack in Nigeria

One resident, Awal Sani, explained that the initial toll from the attack was at least 24 dead, noting that the process of counting victims and losses is still ongoing, given the difficulty of accessing some of the affected areas.

Local residents added that the gunmen were able to travel approximately 50 kilometers along the Mayanchi-Anka highway, one of the state's main trade routes, before reaching the Sauna area, without encountering any intervention from security forces, which raised questions about the ability of security agencies to secure rural areas that are experiencing frequent attacks.

For his part, a resident of the area, Bello Aliyu, said that the attack lasted for about three hours, stressing that the attackers not only shot at the farmers, but also stole an unspecified number of cattle, before fleeing, while the injured are receiving treatment in nearby health centers.

Neither the Nigerian police nor the military authorities have issued any official comment on the attack so far, and no one has claimed responsibility for the operation.

Zamfara State is one of the states most affected by violence in northwestern Nigeria, where armed groups are active, carrying out mass killings, kidnappings for ransom, and cattle raids, taking advantage of the weak security presence and the vastness of the rural areas.

Despite the military operations carried out by the Nigerian government to pursue these groups, the attacks continue to occur repeatedly, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and threatening food security, as farmers are targeted and agricultural activities, on which thousands of residents depend for their livelihoods, are disrupted.