How Bandits Killed 12 In Zamfara Village – LG Chair

Chairman of Maradun local government area in Zamfara State, Sanusi Ahmed Dosara, has said that 12 members of the family of a local vigilante, Mallam Muhammadu Sani, were burnt to death by suspected bandits in Gidan Taba village.

The attack took place on Saturday night (7th November, 2026) in Gidan Taba village, Dosara Birnin Kaya Ward of council.

In an interview with LEADERSHIP, Dosara alleged that security personnel failed to respond despite receiving distress calls.

He said the “bandits did not fire any shots when they entered the village. They went straight to the house, found family members in a room and set it alight.

“They went for the people and then they found out that some people were inside the room. They set fire on  the room and all of them were burnt. That is what happened,” he said.

He said other vigilantes were not nearby when the bandits struck.

The chairman said he immediately contacted security agencies but received no response.

“I informed them, I tried to call security and they did not respond. That is the problem,” he said.

He said he called the divisional police officer (DPO) in charge of the area, but the officer did not respond.

“The DPO later called back that he was sleeping initially, but he will respond, but he didn’t,” Dosara said.

The LG chairman later called the sector commander at Gidan Kono, who told him he had been posted to Bakura but promised to inform the new commander.

“I called the Sector Commander of Gidan Kono. He said he has been posted to Bakura. I asked him to please call the new one to inform him of what is happening. He told me that he really told him, but he did not respond,” Dosara said.

The chairman said that, after visiting the village, he went to the army camp in Gidan Kono to ask why the soldiers had not responded.

He said the soldiers told him they had heard gunfire from three different places and did not know where to go.

“They said when he called them, they heard the sound of gunshots from three places. They did not know where to go. That is what they are telling me,” he said.

Dosara said he stayed with the soldiers and would meet the brigade commander on Monday to report what had happened.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Zamfara State Police Command, DSP Yazid Abubakar, had earlier put the death toll at 11, citing confirmation from the DPO.

“It is 11, the way my DPO confirmed to me is 11,” Abubakar said.

He said Sani had repeatedly prevented the bandits from entering the village, prompting them to target him and his entire family.

“They killed him and his family then later burnt them,” he said.

The conflicting figures — 12 given by the local government chairman, who visited the scene, and 11 by the police — have left the exact death toll in dispute. The victims’ remains have been buried amid grief and tension in the village.