Women and children fleeing bandits’ attacks in Zamfara State earlier this week drowned as a boat ferrying them capsized.
According to officials, the victims were evading terror Birnin Waje, a suburb of Zamfara. In addition, a resident told a local press that the women died in a boat accident while fleeing an hours-long attack by unknown gunmen in the community.
“The situation is dire because most of the people have run away from their homes. The dead bodies recovered so far are 13,” the resident said.
He added that the number of casualties was not obvious at the time, but many people were reportedly drowned. Some residents who fled their homes to evade the attack had not returned to their homes 24 hours after the incident.
According to Ibrahim Bello, a Zamfara government spokesman who confirmed the attack, “an unknown number of mostly women and children got drowned” as they attempted to escape in two boats.
However, he did not specify whether any arrests had been made on that account.
Remote communities in northwestern region of the country had been prey to terrorists for a long time.
A recent documentary film by the BBC Africa reveals that the attacks are provoked by tribal clashes and internal conflicts in the rural communities.
Despite incessant and continual attacks in the region, security forces have recently declared some arrests and seizure of arms.
