'Armed bandits' kill 47 in northwest Nigeria

Gunmen, some with AK 47 guns, attacked three villages in the state of Katsina in the early hours of Saturday, police say.

Nigerian authorities had earlier in April this year, deployed special forces in the country's northwest to combat kidnappers and bandits.
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Nigerian authorities had earlier in April this year, deployed special forces in the country's northwest to combat kidnappers and bandits.

Gunmen killed 47 people in attacks on villages in the northwestern Nigerian state of Katsina in the early hours of Saturday, local police said.

"Armed bandits", some of whom wielded AK 47 guns, carried out the attacks, Katsina police said in a statement on Sunday.

Gunmen, some with AK 47 guns, carried out the attacks in three local government authorities in the state in the early hours of Saturday between 12:30 am (2330 GMT) and around 3 am, the statement said.

"There were reports of organised and simultaneous attacks in villages in Danmusa, Dutsenma and Safana by groups of armed bandits," it said of some of the attacks.

"Detachments of Police, Nigerian Army, Nigeria Airforce, Civil Defence and DSS (Department of State Services) have been drafted to the area," it added. 

Major headache for Nigeria

Hundreds of people have been killed in the last year by criminal gangs carrying out robberies and kidnappings in northwest Nigeria.

Such attacks have added to security challenges in Africa's most populous country, which is already struggling to contain insurgencies in the northeast and communal violence over grazing rights in central states.

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