Twenty-two people killed in violence in Nigeria; police pursue gunmen.

Twenty-two people, including four police officers, were killed and dozens were kidnapped in sporadic acts of violence in Nigeria in recent days.

Nigerian police explained that terrorists suspected of belonging to Boko Haram or the Islamic State in West Africa attacked the Nganzai police station headquarters on Saturday, in an attempt to take control of the town, which is located less than 100 kilometers north of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

According to local media reports, violent clashes broke out between the two sides, resulting in the death of four police officers. Another armed group targeted a security checkpoint at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in Damasak, near the border with Niger, killing a security volunteer and setting fire to about 20 houses.

Launch of a manhunt for armed groups in Nigeria

In this regard, the Nigerian police announced the launch of a manhunt for armed groups following attacks targeting two villages in Zamfara State in the northwest of the country.

According to local sources, armed men raided the villages of Korfa Dania and Korfan Magaji in the Bukuyom district, where they opened fire on houses and vehicles before storming the two villages.

The police urged residents to resume their normal lives, while implementing proactive measures to prevent a recurrence of violence, and deployed additional forces in coordination with the army and civil defense to ensure continued protection.

Omar Abubakar Farou, the head of the local council to which the two villages belong, told Reuters that more than 150 people, mostly women and children, were taken to nearby forested areas, prompting residents to flee and leaving the two villages almost empty.

For its part, the Zamfara State Police confirmed the attack, noting that they had not yet verified the final number of those abducted.

Violence in Nigeria

Northwest Nigeria has been plagued for years by bandit violence, including mass kidnappings for ransom and raids on villages.

Fighters from Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province have recently intensified their attacks on the army, police, and civilian targets in Nigeria, where cooperation has grown between armed gangs driven by financial gain and jihadists in the northeast of the country who have been waging an armed insurgency for 17 years in an effort to establish a so-called “caliphate.”.