Nigeria: Gunmen kill at least 43 in Sokoto State

By Adam Abu-Bashal

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA): At least 43 people were killed when suspected gunmen stormed a marketplace in northern Nigeria on Monday, according to a local official. Traders and buyers at the Goronyo weekly market were among those killed in the attack.

“We just finished a meeting with some stakeholders, and I have confirmed that we unfortunately lost 43 people to that incident,” Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the governor of Sokoto state, said in a statement.

Tambuwal said security forces were dispatched to the region, adding more forces should be deployed to deal with security problems.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the incident, saying the days of those responsible for the attack are numbered.

President Buhari said Monday that his government will soon defeat the bandits operating in the country.

In a statement issued by his media aide Garba Shehu, Buhari said the bandits’ days were numbered because the military capabilities of the Nigerian Armed Forces were being boosted by the acquisition and deployment of advanced equipment.

“The clock of your ultimate destruction is ticking, as you will no longer have a place to hide,” he said.

“The bandits are living in the fool’s paradise of invincibility, but reality will soon dawn on them harder than ever before.”

Buhari said the bandits are currently under pressure because of the intense and sustained air and ground operations against them in their hideouts by Nigerian security forces.

“The cowardly attacks on innocent people by the bandits show a rearguard action of criminals under pressure. But they will have no place to hide, and our gallant security forces will not relent in the current offensive to defeat these callous enemies of humanity,” he added.

The president extended his sympathies to the families of the victims of the Goronyo attack and called on the people to continue to be patient as the military strategized on how to deliver a crushing blow to the bandits.

Earlier, Sokoto government spokesman Muhammad Bello said the assault was carried out by unidentified attackers in the Goronyo region.

He said the attack also left many wounded.

Sokoto is often targeted by armed groups. Twenty people were killed and many others wounded in a similar armed attack on Oct. 10.

In another deadly attack on Oct. 8, 11 people were killed, including children and a mosque imam, and others wounded when suspected gunmen from the outlawed Yan Sakai vigilante group stormed a market in Mamande village in the Gwadabawa local government area of the state.

[Map of Nigeria by CIA/Public Domain]

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