Bandits gun down 53 villagers

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — Armed cattle thieves have killed 53 people in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state, police and local residents said Saturday, the latest violence to hit the restive region.

Scores of motorcycle-riding gunmen called bandits by locals on Thursday through Friday, invaded the villages of Kadawa, Kwata, Maduba, Ganda Samu, Saulawa and Askawa in the Zurmi district, shooting residents, they said.