ABUJA: At least 20 people were killed and 19 wounded when gunmen ambushed a convoy of traders travelling to market under military escort in Zamfara state, northwestern Nigeria, according to a military source quoted by Reuters.
The dead included 12 civilians, four soldiers, three police officers and an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the source said.
According to the military source and a witness, the attack occurred at about 2pm on Saturday as the convoy travelled from Gwashi towards Nasarawa market in Bukkuyum district.
Local resident Musa Danladi told Reuters that he helped recover the bodies.
The reported deaths of eight security personnel raise questions about the circumstances of the ambush and the protection available to civilians travelling through the area.
Conflicting accounts of the attack
Reports differ on the timing, route and death toll.
Nigeria’s Leadership newspaper reported that at least 22 people were feared dead after suspected bandits attacked traders travelling under army escort from Gurusu to Gwashi, which hosts a weekly market. Its report placed the attack in the early hours of Sunday.
Malam Aminu Gwashi, a resident, told the newspaper that “several people, including security personnel, were reportedly killed in the attack”.
Many of the wounded were taken to Bukkuyum General Hospital, Leadership reported.
Both accounts describe an attack on traders under military protection in Bukkuyum Local Government Area, with civilians and security personnel among the casualties. The differences in their accounts remain unresolved.
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At the time of the reports, neither the Nigerian Army nor the Zamfara State Police Command had issued a statement.
Leadership said Lieutenant Colonel Aliyu Danja, information officer for Operation Fansan Yamma, and Major Osoba Olaniyi, information officer for the army’s 8 Division, did not respond to its calls. Military and police authorities also did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The number of troops escorting the convoy, the circumstances in which the attackers struck and whether security forces had launched a pursuit remained unclear.
Bukkuyum faces repeated attacks
The ambush follows a series of deadly attacks in Bukkuyum this year.
In late January, gunmen attacked residents of Kyaram village as they returned from Maga market in the same local government area. At least five people were killed and several others were reported missing, according to Sahara Reporters.
In February, gunmen stormed Tungan Dutse village, burning homes and shooting at residents who tried to escape. International news agencies reported at least 38 deaths, while some accounts put the toll at 50.
Security personnel have also come under attack elsewhere in Zamfara.
On 19 January, five soldiers and a police officer were killed when troops were ambushed on the Bingi-Gusau road.
“Regrettably, five soldiers and one police officer paid the supreme sacrifice during the encounter,” Captain David Adewusi, a spokesperson for Operation Fansan Yamma, said at the time.
The operation is the military’s campaign against armed gangs in northwestern Nigeria.
Armed gangs fuel a long-running crisis
For more than a decade, Zamfara has been at the centre of violence involving heavily armed criminal gangs known locally as bandits.
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The groups raid villages, abduct residents for ransom, steal livestock and attack travellers on rural roads. They operate from forest areas across Zamfara and neighbouring states, including Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi and Niger.
The violence is distinct from the jihadist insurgency in northeastern Nigeria, although security analysts have warned of growing links between some criminal gangs and armed Islamist groups.
Zamfara drew international attention in February 2021 when gunmen abducted 279 schoolgirls from a government secondary school in Jangebe. The girls were subsequently released.
In parts of the northwest, military escorts have become a feature of daily travel. Traders, farmers and passengers assemble in convoys to move between towns under armed protection.
The latest reported attack underscores the dangers that persist even for those travelling with an escort.
Market routes become a threat to livelihoods
Weekly markets are essential to rural communities in Zamfara. Farmers use them to sell produce and livestock, traders replenish their stock and households buy food and other necessities.
Attacks along market routes threaten both lives and livelihoods. Insecurity can restrict travel, increase transport costs and prevent farmers and traders from reaching customers.
Violence has also kept farmers away from their fields, compounding food supply pressures in communities already facing hunger.
Leadership reported that repeated attacks around Gwashi and Bukkuyum had disrupted commercial activity before the latest ambush.
For residents who depend on these roads, the killing of traders travelling under military protection adds to the uncertainty surrounding even routine journeys to market.
