Nigerian Official: 45 Dead After Bandits Strike Rural State

At least 45 people are confirmed dead in the rural Nigerian state of Kaduna following an attack by gunmen, according to Nigerian officials, Al Jazeera reports.

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“There was violence between the militias, who are very powerful, and bandits,” said Kaduna’s state police chief, Austin Iwar. The commissioner added that the bodies had been recovered from Gwaska village on Saturday.

Fighting between militiamen and the bandits erupted after a raid on the village of Gwaska, Agence France-Press reported. About 200 police officers have since been deployed to the community, which has a population of about 3,000, according to Police Inspector General Ibrahim Idris.

Some 13 people were killed last week in Zamfara in fighting between cattle thieves and local civilian militia.

In addition to the bandits, the Nigerian security forces are faced with tackling Boko Haram in the northern region of the country and pirates in the south.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who seeks re-election in 2019, has come under fire for failure to fulfill his campaign promise to stem the violence across the country since being elected in 2015.

Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project reported that since the start of the year alone 385 people have been killed in Benue state in central Nigeria.