Gunmen from a suspected criminal gang attacked a village market in northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto’s state killing dozens of people, the state government said.
“Forty-three people have been confirmed dead following the attack by bandits in Goronyo village in Sokoto State,” Sokoto government spokesman Muhammad Bello said in a statement on Monday.
Bello added that the attack occurred on Sunday evening in Goronyo district. “It was a market day and there were many traders,” Bello said.
The assault began at a weekly market in Goronyo on Sunday and continued into Monday morning, Sokoto Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said in a statement.
Heavily armed gangs known locally as bandits have terrorised northwest and central Nigeria for years, raiding and looting villages, but attacks have become even more violent in recent months.
