By MOHAMMED MOMOH

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A total of 73 people have been killed in two days in northwest Nigeria despite an intense military offensive in the region. 

The military offensive against bandits in the states of Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto, in the last three weeks had seen many bandits fleeing in droves and carrying out attacks on soft targets.

Officials said 38 people were killed in an attack by armed bandits in Tsulluwa and Satiru villages while 19 others were killed during a raid on Kuryar Madaro village on Tuesday night.

Gunmen also killed 16 people and injured many others in Yasore, Katsina State on Wednesday night.

Many residents, who fled the attacks in Tsulluwa and Satiru are currently taking refuge in Tozai, a nearby village where a camp for internally displaced persons has been set up.

The attack on Kuryar Madaro village in Zamfara State came barely 24 hours after the police commissioner in the state, Mr Ayuba Elkana, visited special force operatives posted at strategic locations on the Shinkafi-Kaura Namoda road.

The gunmen, who were riding motorcycles, also looted and burnt houses in the village. They also stole cattle from the villages. 

Since January 2020, about 50,000 people fled from their homes in the northwest alone, according to the International Organization for Migration. 

And more than 80,000 additional people have fled to neighbouring Niger over the past two years.