Zamfara: Cattle rustlers kill 15 in fresh attack

5 persons were reportedly killed by cattle rustlers in Zanuka village of Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State on Saturday June, 2018.

A resident disclosed disclosed that the rustlers invaded the village on Friday morning and rustled cows belonging to the residents.

He went further revealing that a vigilante group popularly referred to as ‘Yansakai’ took on the rustlers and were able to force them to flee the community.

According to him, the bandits however returned later and attacked the village again, killing 15 people in the process.

DSP Shehu Mohammed, the Public Relations Officer of the Zamfara State Police Command confirmed the incident to THISDAY on Saturday in Gusau, saying the rustlers killed 15 people during the heinous attack on Zanuka village.

DSP Shehu also said the command immediately swung into action and deployed men and officers to the village in order to prevent further loss of lives.

“This attack is purely a case of a clash between rustlers and members of the vigilante group in Zanuka village. Had it been the vigilante group informed the police on time about the cattle rustled by the criminals, an action would have been taken to prevent this attack.

“In fact, on receiving the reports of the attack, our men were mobilised to the village and they discovered 15 dead bodies majority of whom were members of the vigilante group.

“But the situation is under control at the moment, as the police have deployed adequate security to the area to maintain peace and secure lives of the people,” he stated.

He appealed to residents of the state to continue to provide useful information to the police in order to combat crime and banditry.

Muhammad added that the command would leave no stone unturned in order to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice