The police in Zamfara State have confirmed an attack by bandits on Shinkafi town in the early hours of Friday but said the attack was โproactively repelledโ by police and military operatives stationed in the town.
The police spokesperson, Muhammad Shehu, said this on Sunday in a statement he issued to debunk a report by Daily Trust newspaper that the bandits raided a police station in the town.
Mr Shehu said the security operatives repelled the bandits and inflicted heavy casualties on them. He said no death was recorded on the part of the security forces and inhabitants of the town.
Verification of the claims by the police has been made difficult by the cut off of telecommunications and travel restrictions in the state.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has cut service networks in Zamfara and parts of Katsina and Sokoto States, at the requests of the state governments to help security operations against banditry in the states.
States in northwestern Nigeria have been experiencing attacks by bandits, resulting in killings, kidnappings for ransom and destruction of farms and crops storage facilities in rural communities.
