ABUJA, 19 October 2021, (TON): 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 Monday.

Heavily armed gangs known locally as bandits have terrorized northwest and central Nigeria for years, raiding and looting villages, but attacks have become even more violent in recent months.

“We’re not sure of the (death toll) figure. But it is 30 something,” Sokoto’s government spokesman Muhammad Bello said in a statement, adding that the attack occurred on Sunday evening in Goronyo district.

Bello told that “it was a market day and there were many traders.”

Police spokesman Sanusi Abubakar also confirmed that bandits attacked Goronyo late.

Abubakar added, without giving details “our sercurity operatives are there to conduct investigations.”

Phone networks in the area have been suspended for weeks to disrupt the gangs’ operations, making information-gathering tricky.

A gang raided another village market on October 8, in Sabon Birni district near the border with Niger, killing 19 people.

Since last month, Nigerian troops have been conducting air and ground operations on bandit camps in neighboring Zamfara state.

Telecom services were also shut down in Zamfara, and parts of Kaduna and Katsina states.

Officials in Sokoto are worried that bandits are relocating to the state as a result of operations in Zamfara.