Terrorists Disguised As Muslim Women Kill 4 In North West Nigeria 

Terrorists clad in niqab, a loose garment worn by Muslim women, attacked residents in different parts of Tsafe, a community in Zamfara, North West Nigeria.

The attack occurred on a market day, around 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, April  21. The criminal gang raided two neighbourhoods in Tsafe, including Tashar Zaurawa and Bayan INEC, about 600 metres from the central market square.

Three residents, including Shamsu Abdullahi, Mikaliu Abubakar, Dan-Amadu Maikaji and Nura Kuli, a member of the Community Protection Guards, locally known as Askarawa, were killed instantly during the raid.

Nine people were moved to the Federal Medical Centre in Gusau, the state capital, due to severe gunshot wounds, while 10 others sustained minor injuries during the attack, eyewitnesses said.

“It was terrible and the worst I ever saw for myself here in Tsafe market. I saw how people sustained various injuries due to extreme fear, and everyone was running for their life as the bandits advanced to the market square, shooting sporadically,” Nafiu Labaran, a resident of the community, narrated to HumAngle.

Sagir Musa, a student from Abdu Gusau Polytechnic who was in Tsafe for the weekend, said soldiers captured three of the invaders after they ran out of ammunition during the attack. Another resident claimed those arrested were people from the town spotted with local guns at the scene of the attack.

It is not clear why the terrorists dressed as women.

“I was together with Dan-Amadu Maikaji bargaining for chickens at the market when we saw about 20 women wearing their veil (hijab) coming from the outskirts to the market square. We all thought they were women, only to discover that they were terrorists carrying guns covered in hijabs,” Ummar Bature, another Tsafe resident, told HumAngle.

“We all screamed and started to run for our lives. Unfortunately, the armed gang began to shoot their guns sporadically. Dan-Amadu, my business friend who could not escape, was eventually killed,” he added.

Residents lamented that the armed group had been targeting Tsafe town since early March. They usually launch attacks from Munhaye, Titin-Jirgi, Gidan-Diye, and Gabaccin Tsafe forest areas. 

Yazid Abubakar, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Zamfara State Police Command, confirmed the incident, saying, “Already, the security operatives in Tsafe were prompted into action after receiving some distress calls from the residents and made an arrest of some key suspects of the attack.”