Gunmen killed at least 30 people in an attack in Sokoto State, the governor’s office said on Monday. The assault began at a weekly market in Goronyo on Sunday and continued into Monday morning, the state Governor, Aminu Tambuwal said in a statement. Iliyasu Abba, a local resident and trader, told Reuters that there were 60 bodies at the Goronyo General Hospital mortuary, while others sustained injuries while escaping. “The gunmen stormed the market as it was crowded with shoppers and traders.
The men were shooting sporadically on us after they surrounded the market firing at every direction and killing people,” he narrated. Abba said the gunmen had at least initially overpowered the police who tried to intervene. However, a police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
It would be recalled that gunmen across the states of the North -West have killed scores of people and kidnapped hundreds more for ransom over the past year in a security crisis that the government is trying to tackle via communications black-outs, military operations and stepped up policing.
The government ordered the shutting of all telephone and internet services throughout Zamfara State in early September, a black-out later extended to parts of Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna States as military operations intensified. Gov. Tambuwal, in his statement, requested for the deployment of more security forces in the state and the deployment of more resources.