Gunmen suspected to be bandits yesterday burnt scores of passengers traveling from Sabon Birni local government area to Sokoto town.

The incident which occurred at about 9am in the morning happened around Gidan Bawa village where the terrorists always referred to as bandits blocked the road and set the vehicle ablaze.

The Sokoto State Police spokesperson, ASP Sanusi Abubakar, confirmed the incident, noting however that those killed might be about 17.

He explained that the vehicle carried 24 passengers, out of which 7 were admitted to an undisclosed hospital.

Sanusi who responded to a text message sent to him on the development said, “The vehicle is carrying 24 passengers out of which 7 victims were admitted and an unidentified number of burnt dead bodies”.

Sources from Sabon Birni local government however insisted that the number of those burnt in the vehicle could be higher than what the police confirmed, as a particular family lost ten members to the incident.

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One of the sources, Danchadi, who is a former local government chairman, told our reporter that the incident was really heartbreaking.

According to him, they are still trying to ascertain the exact number of casualties, adding that the figure might be very scary.

A relative of one of those killed in the attack, who simply gave his name as Garba, said the Turji led faction of bandits had occupied the entire Sokoto East senatorial district.

He said the criminals have imposed leaders in some villages and are collecting tithes, levies and controlling those in such villages as slaves.

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