Deadly bandit attack hits Zamfara village in Nigeria

Eyewitnesses said dozens of men riding on motorcycles stormed the village of Gamdum Mallam in the afternoon of Saturday, before rounding up mostly women and children and leading them to a forest.

The other attackers raided herds, grabbing cows, sheep and goats.

Two people were also killed in the attack.

Zamfara, in northwestern Nigeria, is the epicentre of attacks by armed men,locally known as bandits.

The violent and mostly deadly attacks have made several aspects of civilian life difficult. Armed groups often demand ransom to release their victims.

In 2022, the Nigerian Senate passed a bill imposing jail terms of at least 15 years for paying a ransom to free a victim of kidnapping, and made the crime of abduction punishable by death in cases where victims die.

Armed gangs operating mostly in northeastern and north-central states of Nigeria have for more than a decade spread terror through kidnappings for ransom, targeting students, villagers and motorists on highways.

Nigeria's security forces who are also dealing with an Islamist militant insurgency in the north-east are stretched thin.

Last week, Nigeria's air force said it had killed at least 35 armed fighters in raids near the country’s border with Cameroon.

The region faces frequent attacks from Boko Haram and its rival splinter group, ISIL (ISIS) West Africa Province (ISWAP).