A military airstrike demolished Tumfa market in Zurmi Local Government Area, Zamfara State on Sunday. At least 117 people died in the bombing, residents confirmed.
Casualties included both armed bandits and civilians, according to eyewitness accounts. Several others sustained injuries from the aerial bombardment.
On the same day, Nigerian Air Force jets struck Guradnayi settlement near Kusasu in Niger State's Shiroro LGA. Thirteen civilians lost their lives in that operation.
Word of the Tumfa incident didn't reach the outside world until late Monday. Poor communication networks in the region delayed reporting.
Tumfa and surrounding communities in Zurmi LGA are firmly under bandit control. Residents have no choice but to live alongside these armed groups.
Garba Ibrahim Mashema, a community leader, struggled to verify exact casualty numbers. "The actual death toll is hard to establish at the moment," he told AFP.
According to him, everyone in the area visits the market—residents and bandits alike. "People are at the mercy of the bandits.
There is nothing they can do," Mashema noted.
Aliyu Musa lives in Zurmi town, roughly seven kilometres from Tumfa market. He claims most victims were traders and food vendors, including young girls selling millet porridge and tofu.
Musa pegged the death toll at 117. "Tumfa market is under the control of bandits.
It is their stronghold," he told reporters.
A relative of victims, speaking anonymously for safety, described the attack sequence. A military fighter jet surveyed the market first, then returned hours later to launch its strike.
Villages like Fakai, Mayasa and Mashema lack any government presence, the source explained. Bandits function as judges, police, and authorities in these areas.
Military personnel likely spotted weapons during their surveillance flight. That observation probably triggered the subsequent bombardment, he suggested.
"We live together with them and they move around with weapons openly," he said.
Bandit extortion is rampant across the region. Recently, armed groups demanded N70 million from a community after security forces arrested their ammunition courier.
The bandits had sent this man to Nasarawa State to retrieve ammunition concealed in palm oil containers. Security agents intercepted him before delivery.
"The bandits then forced his relatives to pay N70 million, without caring about the fate of the man they implicated," the resident explained.
Most of Zurmi LGA remains dominated by armed groups. Travel beyond town limits invites danger.
"You cannot travel five kilometres outside Zurmi town without encountering bandits," he said.
Crop destruction has become systematic in the area. Bandits restrict farming to millet cultivation only.
Whenever residents plant guinea corn or beans, the armed groups deliberately graze cattle on their fields. This strategy has devastated agriculture for years.
