Gunmen kill 30 at weekly market

GUNMEN killed at least 30 people in an attack in northern Nigeria’s Sokoto state, the governor’s office said on Monday.

The assault began at a weekly market in Goronyo on Sunday and continued into yesterday morning, Sokoto Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said.

Iliyasu Abba, a local resident and trader, told Reuters that there were 60 bodies at Goronyo General Hospital mortuary, while others sustained injuries while escaping.

“The gunmen stormed the market as it was crowded with shoppers and traders,” he said. The men were “shooting sporadically on us after they surrounded the market firing at every direction killing people.” Abba said the gunmen had at least initially overpowered police who tried to intervene.

Gunmen across north-western Nigeria 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 blackouts, military operations and stepped up policing.

Tambuwal has requested more security forces in the state and the deployment of more resources.