At least 20 people, including eight security personnel, were killed when gunmen ambushed a military-escorted convoy of traders travelling to a market in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state, local witnesses and military sources said on Monday.
The attack occurred on Saturday afternoon as traders travelled from Gwashi towards Nasarawa market in Bukkuyum district, an area affected by persistent violence involving armed criminal groups.
Musa Danladi, a local resident who helped recover the bodies, told Reuters that the dead included 12 civilians, four soldiers, three police officers and a member of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
A military source confirmed the attack and said another 19 people were wounded.
Neither the military nor police had issued an official statement on the ambush as of Monday.
Zamfara and neighbouring states have experienced repeated attacks by heavily armed gangs, locally known as bandits, who target rural communities, abduct residents for ransom and steal livestock.
The latest killings highlight the continuing security challenges facing Nigeria’s northwest, where even convoys travelling under military protection remain vulnerable to attacks.
Separately, Nigeria’s military announced that airstrikes conducted on October 10 killed more than 40 Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters in northeastern Borno state.
Military spokesperson Captain Mohammed Goni said the operation targeted an ISWAP position in Badu village after intelligence reports indicated that militants were preparing coordinated attacks against government troops.
According to the military, those killed included a senior commander and members of ISWAP’s Murabitun unit, a mobile fighting force involved in armed operations and patrols.
The military said the operation had significantly weakened the group’s capabilities, although the reported casualties could not be independently verified.
Nigeria continues to confront separate but overlapping security crises involving criminal gangs in its northwest and Islamist insurgent groups operating primarily in the northeast.
