No fewer than nine people have been killed in separate attacks by bandits in four Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs in the state, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed this on Friday.
Aruwan listed the affected LGAs as Chikun, Igabi, Zaria and Zango Kataf.
Three people, according to Aruwan, were killed, while another person sustained gunshot injuries when bandits barricaded the Buruku-Udawa section of the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road in Chikun Local Government Area.
He added that one man was killed by bandits in the Yola-Kadi general area, also in Chikun LGA, while another resident was injured in the attack.
Similarly, bandits killed two people in Sako village in Zangon Kataf LGA, while two corpses were discovered by a security patrol team in the Kurfi-Magamiya general area of the local government.
In Zaria, one person lost his life after bandits attacked Saye village within the local government, bringing the total number of those killed to nine.
In his reaction, Governor Nasir El-Rufai condemned the attacks and prayed for the repose of the souls of those killed by the armed men.
El-Rufai also wished the injured ones a speedy recovery and called on security forces to intensify operations against criminal elements across the state.