Terror struck parts of Zamfara State on Friday evening as heavily armed bandits launched a fresh assault on communities along the Mayanchi–Anka highway, killing one person and abducting several others.
Eyewitnesses said the attackers, who operated for hours, blocked the busy highway and opened fire sporadically, forcing travellers and residents to flee into nearby bushes for safety.
One of the survivors, Malam Muhammad Ahmad, recounted that the bandits intercepted vehicles and whisked away several passengers.
“They stopped us on the road and took many people away. Some of us managed to run into the bushes and hide among tall crops. That was how we escaped,” he said.
Ahmad added that his colleague, Abubakar Lawali Sardauna, was shot dead after resisting the abductors’ orders to follow them into the forest.
As of press time, the Zamfara State Police Command and military authorities had yet to comment on the incident.
The latest attack adds to a growing list of violent raids by armed groups in Zamfara, a state that has become the epicentre of banditry in Nigeria’s northwest region.