Gunmen have  killed 34 people in Nigeria‘s north-western state  of Zamfara where criminal gangs and armed bandits have been terrorizing remote villages.

The bandits were said to have opened fire on farmers on their fields outside the villages and also pursued those who fled.

A statement issued by Mohammed Shehu, the spokesperson of the Zamfara State Police Command on Sunday said the armed bandits operating on motorcycles stormed Tungar, Kafau and Gidan Wawa villages in Shinkafi district on Friday night and shot 34 people dead.

“Normalcy has been restored in Tungar, Kafau and Gidan Wawa following attack by armed bandits where 34 people were killed,” Shehu said in the statement.

He said the victims of the attacks were buried on Saturday, adding that the Police were on the trail of the killers.

Rural communities in Zamfara have recently been terrorized by criminal gangs who raid villages to steal cattle, kidnap for ransom and burn homes after looting food supplies.

Last week, at least 40 people were killed and dozens injured in raids on eight remote villages in neighbouring Niger state.