Gunmen kill nine farmers in northwest Nigeria

Weeks into the annual rainy season, jihadists and criminal gangs -- kidnappers for ransom and cattle thieves known locally as "bandits" -- have stepped up attacks on farming communities in northern and central Nigeria that fail to pay levies they impose.

Kaduna is one of several states in northern and central Nigeria impacted by the gangs, who raid villages, kill and kidnap residents for ransom and loot homes before burning them.

A security report prepared for the United Nations and seen by AFP on Sunday said the attackers on Saturday swept into the farmlands outside Kakangi village in Birnin Gwari district and shot farmers as they worked on their fields.

"Nine bodies have been recovered so far, with six of the victims identified by local authorities," the report said.

Kabiru Ishaq, a community leader in Birnin Gwari, some 60 kilometres (37 miles) away, who visited the village to offer condolences, said 10 people were killed.

He said the attack was revenge for the killing of a bandit by farmers in a failed robbery attempt earlier the same day, with the report citing the same motive.

The bandit's accomplice "returned with reinforcements and launched retaliatory assault", the report said.

Attacks on farming communities in the agrarian Birnin Gwari district have continued despite a November 2024 peace agreement brokered by local authorities between them and bandits.

Last month at least six farmers were killed and 20 kidnapped in an attack on Danauta village in the district, according to local sources.