Esther Imonmion
At least eight people, including five police officers, were killed on Thursday when gunmen ambushed a joint security patrol along the Gusau–Funtua highway in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
Governor Dauda Lawal confirmed the incident in a statement posted on his official Facebook page, describing it as a “sad and painful loss” to the state’s ongoing fight against insecurity.
According to the statement, the victims included five police officers and three members of a local vigilante group who had been working with the police to tackle armed banditry in the area.
Eyewitnesses said the attackers, suspected to be bandits, laid an ambush in the bushes along the highway before opening fire on the patrol team.
A resident of Gusau, Buhari Moriki, told The Associated Press that the gunmen appeared to have been heading toward a nearby community when they encountered the patrol. “The bandits were moving to a community in the area when they saw the patrol,” Moriki said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the ambush, which adds to the wave of violent attacks that have plagued Zamfara and other parts of northwest Nigeria in recent months.
Zamfara is one of the states worst hit by armed banditry, with communities frequently targeted for raids, kidnappings, and killings. The worsening insecurity has disrupted farming and displaced thousands of residents.
Governor Lawal expressed his condolences to the families of the slain officers and vigilante members, calling for unity in confronting the security challenges.
“We pray to Almighty God to bring an end to this security problem in Zamfara State and Nigeria,” he said.
Nigeria continues to grapple with multiple security threats, including bandit attacks in the northwest and an Islamist insurgency in the northeast that has claimed more than 35,000 lives, according to United Nations estimates.