Gunmen kill 12 villagers in Nigeria

Lagos, May 25 (IANS) Nigerian police said a group of gunmen launched an attack on a village in northwest Nigeria's Katsina state, killing at least 12 villagers and injuring several others.

The gunmen, locally known as bandits, raided the Gakurdi village in the Jibia local government area of Katsina on Tuesday morning, said Gambo Isa, the police spokesperson in Katsina, while addressing media in the city of Katsina, the state capital.

"The bandits arrived in the village on four motorcycles and started shooting sporadically, and the situation caused panic in the village, which made residents scamper for safety," Isa said, adding the 12 people killed were all shot in farms outside the village.

He said the gunmen also burned some farmlands and rustled flocks of cattle belonging to the locals, Xinhua news agency reported.

He added that security forces were immediately deployed to the area to prevent further attacks.