Gunmen kill 160 killed in northwest Nigeria in last three months

At least 160 people have been killed by unknown gunmen in villages located in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara State in the last three months, the local authorities said on Monday.

State governor Abdulazez Yari, who made this known to the state House Assembly, added that the gunmen also abducted 10 married women.

He said the situation had caused disaffection between residents of the affected villages and the state government.

The governor said the hoodlums, who continued to terrorize villages in parts of the state, stole no fewer than 6,000 cows and 4,000 sheep within the period.

Yari said the state government was handicapped, and urged the federal government to deploy more security personnel to the state to protect lives and property of the people.

Nigeria has witnessed a string of attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram since 2009, when the sect launched its insurgency targeting churches, security facilities, schools and villages.

Boko Haram seeks to enshrine the Islamic sharia law into the Constitution and declares war against the Western education.