A Police Officer and six others have been killed after armed bandits attacked the divisional headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in Zurmi town of Zamfara State, on Sunday 18 February, 2024.
Sources say that the bandits who were said to have stormed the village on a reprisal attack after vigilantes killed three of their men, went further to raid the police headquarters.
It was gathered that several other persons also sustained various degrees of injuries as the bandits shot sporadically and eventually burnt the police facility.
According to a witness who revealed that he was yet to reach his relatives as of 9:45 pm because most of their numbers were switched off, added called for help from relevant authorities.
Also, another witness was quoted as saying, “The vigilante group went to the forest with the police and attacked the bandits’ camp where they killed three of the bandits and captured one of them.
They later killed the bandit they captured after beating them severely. For this reason, the bandits mobilized themselves in large numbers and headed to the police station in Zurmi, thinking that their kinsman, who was arrested by the vigilantes and the police, was in the custody of the police.
Immediately they arrived at the police station, they opened fire, killing the DCO and injuring other policemen. They went into the police station to look for their kinsman but could not see him, as such, they set the place on fire.
As I am talking to you now, the military personnel have arrived at the town while the bandits have since returned to the forest.”
In a related development, six persons have reportedly lost their lives in Kwasam, Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, while five others, including a retired director of CBN, Mr Zakariya Markus, his brother, and the brother’s wife, were abducted.
It was also learnt that two other persons were injured when the armed bandits stroke an attack on Friday, a few minutes after 10 p.m. when the community was invaded.
