ZAMFARA State was thrown into mourning on Friday after armed bandits stormed a mosque in Yandoto village, Tsafe Local Government Area, killing at least five worshippers and abducting several others during early morning prayers, News Point Nigeria gathered.
Eyewitnesses said the gunmen, who struck around dawn, opened fire on the congregation without warning, leaving the mosque littered with blood and bodies.
“They came in while people were praying and started shooting indiscriminately,” a resident told reporters, speaking under condition of anonymity. “Five people died instantly, while many others sustained gunshot wounds.”
The attackers reportedly whisked away an unspecified number of worshippers into the forest. Some of the injured victims are currently receiving medical care and are said to be responding to treatment.
A local resident described the incident as “barbaric and inhuman,” lamenting that the community continues to live in constant fear of repeated bandit attacks.
When contacted, the Zamfara State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Yazid Abubakar, said he had not yet received an official briefing from the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Tsafe.
The latest assault comes barely a week after gunmen stormed Gidan Turbe village, also in Tsafe LGA, where about 40 worshippers were abducted during dawn prayers.
In a separate tragedy, over 100 people are feared dead after a gold mining pit collapsed in Kadauri village, Maru Local Government Area of the state.
Witnesses said the pit caved in on Thursday, burying scores of illegal miners alive. Efforts to dig out the trapped miners reportedly turned fatal, as some rescuers suffocated in the process.
“So far, eight bodies have been recovered, all of them residents of Mekwanugga village,” a source disclosed.
The corpses have since been transported back to the village for immediate burial in line with Islamic rites.
The twin tragedies in Zamfara have once again highlighted the twin scourges of insecurity and illegal mining devastating the state, with communities left to mourn dozens of lives lost in less than 48 hours.
