Gunmen suspected to be bandits have killed an imam and three other persons and abducted 12 residents during a midnight attack on Illelar Dawagware village in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

Residents said the attackers stormed the community at about 12:20 a.m. on Sunday, arriving on approximately nine motorcycles with an estimated 30 armed men. The assailants reportedly operated for about 30 minutes, firing sporadically and overwhelming villagers who attempted to resist the attack.

According to residents, the gunmen first invaded the residence of the village imam before killing him and three others. They subsequently went from house to house, abducting 12 people, comprising eight women and four men.

The victims killed were identified as Mallam Liman Lawwali Na Ande, Lawwali Na Lami and Abdullahi Haruna, while the names of the remaining deceased were not immediately confirmed. Those abducted include Amiru, Hauwa, Awwalu and nine other residents.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Alhaji Samaila sustained a gunshot wound that fractured his hand and is currently receiving treatment at a health facility in Sokoto.

Residents accused security personnel of failing to respond to distress calls during the attack, alleging that they contacted security operatives in Goronyo and even offered to provide money for fuel to facilitate a response, but no assistance came.

The source described the latest incident as the 24th attack on the village, recalling that two years ago bandits killed seven members of the same family inside a mosque. He added that the community had only recently begun to recover, with some displaced residents returning last Sunday after spending about two years away.

Another resident, who attended the burial of the slain imam, said fear had gripped the community, forcing many villagers to abandon their homes at night and seek refuge at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Goronyo over fears of another attack.

The residents appealed to the Federal Government, the Sokoto State Government and security agencies to take urgent measures to end the recurring attacks and restore peace to the area.

Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Sokoto State Police Command were unsuccessful, as calls and text messages sent to the Command's spokesperson, DSP Ahmad Rufai, were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.

The latest attack comes just days after a similar incident in Kuda-Kuda village, also in Goronyo Local Government Area, where bandits reportedly killed a chief imam and abducted nine residents.