Gunmen attacked three towns in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state on Sunday, killing at least 48 people, according to a local official and residents.
 
For years, criminal bands known as bandits have tormented northwest and central Nigeria, raiding and looting villages, stealing cattle, and abducting citizens for ransom.
 
"A total of 48 people were killed by the bandits in the three villages (Damri, Sabon Garin and Kalahe) attacked Friday afternoon," said Aminu Suleiman, administrative head of Bakura district where the villages are. 

Suleiman claimed that dozens of gunmen on motorbikes attacked the three villages in a coordinated operation, shooting individuals as they sought to flee.
 
Suleiman told AFP that Damri was the hardest struck, with gunmen killing 32 people, including hospital patients. "They burnt a police patrol vehicle, killing two security personnel." 

He claimed that troops stationed in the area fought the attackers in a gun duel, causing them to flee.

The assailants went on a shooting rampage before plundering cattle and food supplies, according to Abubakar Maigoro, a Damri local.
 
"We buried 48 people killed in the attacks," Maigoro said. No comments were provided from the Police in Nigeria when requested.
 
Despite military efforts targeting their hideouts, the criminals have recently increased their attacks.

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The so-called "bandits maintain camps in a vast forest, straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, and Niger states." 
 
In the past two months, they have attacked a train between the capital Abuja and Kaduna city and kidnapped dozens of passengers, massacred more than 100 villagers, and killed a dozen members of vigilante groups. 

In early January, gunmen killed more than 200 people in Zamfara state. 

According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), bandits killed 2,600 civilians in 2021, an increase of 250 percent from 2020. 
 
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army commander, has been under intense pressure to end bandit violence before he leaves office next year at the end of his two terms in power. 

The violence has forced thousands to flee to neighboring Niger, with over 11,000 seeking refuge in November, according to the United Nations. 

Officials in Zamfara say more than 700,000 people have been displaced by bandits, prompting the officials to open eight camps to accommodate them. 

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