At least 17 farmers were killed and 13 others wounded when armed gunmen attacked agricultural workers in northwestern Nigeria’s Zamfara State, according to local authorities and residents, in the latest incident highlighting the worsening security situation in the region.
The attack took place on Friday in the town of Goron Namaye, located in the Maradun local government area of Zamfara State. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the assault bore the hallmarks of criminal gangs, commonly referred to in Nigeria as “bandits,” whose attacks have intensified in recent months.
“The farmers were working on their lands when the bandits suddenly attacked and killed 17 of them,” local resident Shehu Musa told The Associated Press, adding that at least 13 injured victims were receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
The chairman of the Maradun local government, Sanusi Dosara, said the attack was linked to the state government’s refusal to negotiate with armed groups operating in the area. In a statement, he urged security forces to dismantle the Bayan-Ruwa enclave in the Maradun forest, which he described as a hideout for the gunmen responsible for repeated attacks.
The killings came just one day after another security incident in the same area. On Thursday, armed men abducted 39 people in the community of Magamin Diddi while residents were meeting with the parents of a suspected bandit leader in an attempt to negotiate peace and address the growing wave of kidnappings.
Zamfara has become one of the epicenters of armed violence in northwestern Nigeria, where heavily armed criminal groups frequently raid villages, loot property, abduct residents for ransom, and target farmers working in remote areas.
The persistent insecurity has severely affected agricultural activities across the region, with many farmers abandoning their lands out of fear of attacks. Analysts warn that continued violence could further worsen food insecurity in parts of northern Nigeria that depend heavily on local agricultural production.
Authorities have struggled to contain the violence despite repeated military operations against armed groups operating in forests stretching across Zamfara and neighboring states. Local communities have repeatedly called for stronger security measures and more effective protection for rural populations.
Nigeria is also grappling with a long-running insurgency in its northeastern region, where extremist violence has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions of people over the years. The combined impact of insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping has placed increasing pressure on the country’s security forces.
President Bola Tinubu has pledged to improve security and curb violence across the country, but deadly attacks and mass abductions continue to pose major challenges to Africa’s most populous nation, raising concerns about the effectiveness of ongoing efforts to restore stability.
