Three soldiers and five civilians of Kabasa village in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State on Tuesday lost their lives fighting bandits.
According to a resident of the area, Malam Mohammed, seven others who sustained serious injuries were now receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Magami town.
Mohammed told The PUNCH that the bandits who were on motorcycles invaded the village on Tuesday evening to avenge the killing of their kinsmen days after the villagers stormed the forest ambushed and killed many of the bandits.
He said, “We got information that the bandits were planning to attack us in a mosque during Friday prayers; as such, we mobilised ourselves and moved to the forest where we ambushed them, killing many of them.
“That was why they came back to attacked us yesterday in order to avenge the killing of their kinsmen.”
Mohammed added that the villagers squarely faced the bandits ready to defend themselves before the intervention of the military.
“The bandits and the villagers fought for more than three hours before the military, who were stationed in Magami town, came to the village to help them.”