Survivors of Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Zamfara State, Rafin Danya, Barayar Zaki, Rafin Gero, and Kurfa villages have recounted their ordeal.
The bandits were said to be fleeing Zamfara State as a result of ongoing military operations when they invaded villages in the state’s Anka and Bukkuyum local government areas.
According to survivors, the terrorists killed over 200 villagers and set many houses on fire, forcing scores of villagers who managed to flee and remain missing.
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A survivor who identified himself as Mohammed Kurfa, the trouble began when vigilantes in the villages attempted to confront the terrorists, who have since been killed.
According to a survivor who identified himself as Mohammed Kurfa, the trouble began when vigilantes in the villages attempted to confront the terrorists, who had been designated terrorists and were fleeing Zamfara State with at least 3,000 cattle.
Kurfa claims that the vigilantes engaged the terrorists in a gun battle, which resulted in the invasion.
Another survivor and Bukkuyum resident, Abubakar Ahmed, said that the attack began on Tuesday and lasted until Thursday.
Another survivor and resident of Anka Aliyu Anka, Ahmed, agreed, saying, “They killed people over the age of 20.”
Some have been buried, while others have been burned, and we are still looking for bodies.”
Terrorists refuse to allow the disposal of dead bodies.
“We made several attempts to evacuate the dead bodies for burial, but we were unable to do so due to the presence of bandits who had invaded the areas,” Sani explained.
Sani bemoaned the lack of security personnel in the affected villages, which forced the villagers to flee their homes.
Elkana commented on the villagers’ inability to evacuate and bury their dead, saying it was dangerous to go to those areas due to the heavy presence of the terrorists, whom he confirmed were in large numbers.
“Nobody will risk his life to go to those areas because there are a lot of bandits there,” he said.
One of the major issues is that we have a large number of informants gathering information.
Terrorists have gripped Zamfara and other North-West states, killing, maiming, kidnapping for ransom, and displacing hundreds.
Zamfara took drastic measures to combat the problem in September, including the shutdown of telecommunications services, while military attacks were launched against the terrorists.
In November of last year, the Federal Government obtained a court order declaring bandits to be terrorists, allowing the full force of the military to be deployed against them.
