50 feared dead, women, children abducted as gunmen lay siege to Zamfara village

At least 50 people have been killed and several women and children abducted following a deadly attack by armed men on Tungan Dutse village in Zamfara State, in yet another assault underscoring the deepening insecurity in Nigeria’s northwest.

The lawmaker representing Bukkuyum South Constituency in the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Hamisu A. Faru, confirmed the incident to Reuters on Friday, describing the scale of destruction as devastating.

According to Faru, the attackers stormed Tungan Dutse at about 5 p.m. on Thursday and operated unchallenged until around 3:30 a.m. on Friday. He said the gunmen moved from one community to another during the hours-long raid, killing residents and setting homes ablaze.

“They have been moving from one village to another … leaving at least 50 people dead,” Faru said in a telephone interview. He added that the exact number of abducted victims was still being determined, as traditional rulers and local government officials continued to compile records of those missing.

Residents described scenes of chaos and despair. Abdullahi Sani, a 41-year-old villager who lost three family members in the attack, said the community was left traumatized. “No one slept yesterday, we are all in pain,” he lamented.

Faru further revealed that the attackers shot at residents attempting to flee. Sani disclosed that locals had alerted security forces a day earlier after spotting more than 150 motorcycles carrying heavily armed men heading toward nearby communities.

The warnings, residents claim, were not acted upon promptly, raising fresh concerns about the responsiveness of security agencies in vulnerable rural areas.

Zamfara has remained one of the epicentres of banditry in Nigeria’s northwest for years. In March 2021, former President Muhammadu Buhari declared the state a no-fly zone and imposed a ban on mining activities in a bid to curb the rising wave of armed attacks and illegal mining believed to be fueling criminal operations.

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Despite these measures, armed groups—often riding in large numbers on motorcycles—continue to target remote communities, carrying out mass killings, abductions for ransom, and widespread destruction of homes, shops, and farmlands. Many of the attacks reportedly last for hours with little resistance.

The renewed violence has displaced thousands of residents and intensified pressure on federal and state authorities to strengthen security architecture in the region.

In a related development, President Bola Tinubu in November ordered the immediate withdrawal of police officers attached to Very Important Persons (VIPs) nationwide, directing that they be redeployed to core policing duties.

The directive followed a high-level security meeting involving the police, Air Force and Army chiefs, as well as the Director-General of the Department of State Services.

Security challenges persist beyond Zamfara. Earlier this month, at least 35 people were reportedly killed when armed bandits attacked Woro village in Kwara State, marking one of the deadliest incidents recorded in the state so far in 2026.

As communities continue to reel from repeated assaults, residents in affected areas are calling for urgent and more effective interventions to halt the cycle of violence that has plagued Nigeria’s northwest in recent years.