At least 35 persons were killed in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State after bandits on Thursday massacred defenceless peasant farmers to avenge the killing of two of their members by a vigilante group the previous day, the police have said.

A source, however, said 39 persons were killed in the attacks.

The vigilantes had reportedly killed the two suspected bandits on Wednesday after they were found with guns.

But on Thursday, the bandits staged a revenge attack, killing 39 peasant farmers, a resident of the area told our correspondent, asking not to be named for security reasons.

The source said the bandits indiscriminately attacked people working on their farms in Faru district of the LGA.

The bandits invaded the community on motorcycles with sophisticated weapons, killing the defenceless farmers, the source added.

The source said security agents stationed in the area did not respond to distress calls during the attack.

Some of the corpses of those killed on Thursday were deposited at a local primary healthcare centre overnight. They were buried on Friday after more bodies were recovered from the farms.

Police spokesperson in Zamfara, Muhammad Shehu, confirmed the incident to reporters but gave 35 as the number of people killed in the attacks.

Shehu said ”more security agents have been deployed to the area for reinforcement.”

The nation, especially the North, is reeling under mounting insecurity, crimes and killings as the federal government battles hard to tackle marauding bands of bandits and criminal elements laying siege to many communties.

PT