The death toll from an attack by gunmen on an artisanal gold mining site in northwestern Nigeria has risen to 26, Amnesty International confirmed to AFP on Saturday.

The additional victims were villagers attempting to flee during the assault, according to Isa Sanusi, Amnesty’s country director for Nigeria.

Yahaya Adamu Gobirawa, an official from the mining union, told AFP that the assailants, armed with “heavy guns,” stormed the site in Gobirawar Chali village, located within the Maru local government area of Zamfara State, on Thursday.

Police have yet to officially confirm the incident, stating that investigations are still underway.

Zamfara is among several states in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions plagued by criminal gangs, locally referred to as bandits. These groups frequently raid villages, killing and kidnapping residents across remote rural areas where government presence, infrastructure, and security are minimal.

Gobirawa described the attack as “unprovoked”, noting that the site had initially been targeted on Tuesday but the miners, along with local vigilantes, managed to repel the attackers.

However, he said, the gunmen returned on Thursday “in much larger numbers and overwhelmed the miners and vigilantes,” adding that “the bandits were better armed because they were using heavy guns.”

In response to persistent insecurity, the Zamfara state government established the Zamfara Community Guards last year, deploying 5,200 personnel in an effort to bolster protection for vulnerable communities.

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