An estimated 200 people were killed and 10,000 displaced in attacks by armed bandits in the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara following military air raids on their hideouts last week.
A spokesperson for Sadiya Umar Farouq, minister of humanitarian affairs, said more than 200 bodies were buried.
“We are very saddened by this incessant invasion, and we also worried about the displaced persons who are fleeing in their hundreds from their communities,” Nneka Ikem Anibeze said on Sunday.
Farouq called the past week’s attacks in Zamfara state “horrific and tragic,” giving the first official toll after details began filtering out early Saturday.
The minister said more 10,000 people were displaced when “their homes were razed by the bandits while scores are still missing”.
The state government had previously said 58 people were killed in the attacks.
