On Saturday night, armed bandits attacked the headquarters of Zamfara State’s Maru Local Government, killing a divisional police officer and two others.
The gunmen who stormed Maru in large numbers fired sporadically, forcing residents to flee for safety.
When the Divisional Police Officer of the Local Government, Kazeem Raheem, learned of the attack, he mobilised his men and some local vigilantes to repel the bandits.
However, the DPO, a sergeant named Rabiu Bagobiri, and one vigilante official named Shehu Chuka were both killed during the counter-offensive.
Zamfara State Police Command spokesperson, SP Mohammed Shehu said police authorities in the state are currently in Maru for an on-the-spot assessment.
“We are currently in Maru, I will get back to you when we returned to Gusau,” SP Shehu said.
A source from the local government headquarters confirmed that an unspecified number of residents were also abducted in the attack.
“They abducted people, but no exact number so far, they are still searching for people that ran for their lives,” stated the source who chose to remain anonymous.
Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State is about 84kilometers to the state capital Gusau and is one local government area in the state highly troubled by bandits.
Bandits-ravaged communities like Dansadau, Malele, Mutumji, are all under this council.