Bandits on Monday morning attacked Goran Namaye in the Maradun local government area of Zamfara State, killing four people and abducting 50 others, the police said.
Sources said the number of those abducted is more than 70 while 10 were reportedly killed. The police, however, said four people were killed and about 50 abducted in the attack.
The bandits reportedly operated in the village for more than five hours.
Hamza Bakura, a resident of Bakura, which is close to Goran Namaye, said the attack started from 1 a.m.
“Immediately they entered the village, they started shooting but most of the people killed were slaughtered, not shot,” he said.
He added that when security operatives arrived at the village around 4 a.m., the bandits engaged them in a fierce gun duel.
Another source who lives in Talata Mafara, Mudassir Muhammad, also said those abducted “were more than 70”.
“In our house (in Mafara), they are over 50 people taking refuge because of the attack. It was terrible because some of them trekked to Mafara from Gora in the morning. I am sure you know the distance,” he said.
However, the police spokesman in the state, Mohammed Shehu, said the bandits killed four people and abducted 50 in the attack.
He said the Commissioner of Police, Yakubu Elkana, had ordered immediate search and rescue operations for the victims.
Since Nigeria Air Force jets bombed their camps in the Sububu and the Bakura forests, bandits have intensified attacks on communities in Bakura, Maradun and Talata Mafara local government areas.
Recently, they attacked Zamfara State College of Agriculture and Animal Sciences.
Last week alone, Yarkofoji and Rini, both neighbouring communities of Goran Namaye, were attacked by the bandits suspected to be loyal to bandit-kingpin, Halilu Kachalla.