Police confirm 9 killed in village attack in Zamfara

The police in Zamfara on Saturday confirmed that nine persons were killed at Fanteka Village in Daraga District of Maru Local Government Area when unknown gunmen attacked the community. Confirming the attack to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau, Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Sanusi Amiru, said the incident was a reprisal attack by the gunmen on Thursday. According to the police spokesman, six of those killed were members of the community, while the other three were members of the gang gunned down by the villagers. He said that a team of armed policemen have been able to restore peace to the affected area, while a combined team of security men were on the trail of the gunmen. He, however, warned that the law prohibiting illegal possession of firearms was still in place and advised people against taking laws into their hands. An eye witness, Sule Musa, told NAN in the village that the gunmen had earlier on the fateful day invaded the community. He said they were chased out by the villagers, who shot and killed three members of the gang. Musa said the gunmen returned later on the same day with more men on motorcycles and shot arbitrarily killing six and injuring several villagers.