Zamfara Villagers Protest with Coffins: A Desperate Cry Against Endless Bandit Terror

Villagers facing daily attack by bandits in Zamfara state staged protests using coffins to block a major road — symbolizing the death and bloodshed they have been facing. In many parts of Zamfara state bandits attack, kill, abduct women and girls and steal livestock and return to do it — again and again. 

This is Nigeria’s forgotten conflict. The authorities’ failure to protect lives has left villagers in Zamfara at the mercy of armed bandits, who have killed hundreds of people since 2012 and across 13 out of 14 local government areas of the state. 

Villagers always describe feeling helpless and on edge, constantly bracing themselves for attacks. They described a pattern in which they receive warnings ahead of attacks, including by phone, ordering them to pay huge sums of money or be killed or abducted.

These killings must stop immediately, and those suspected of criminal responsibility must be brought to justice. The Nigerian authorities have a responsibility to protect the lives of everybody in the country, including people in rural communities.