Eyewitnesses have spoken on bandits invasion of Goronyo market in Sokoto State.
More than 30 people were shot dead in the attack, which happened on Sunday night.
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Some witnesses told BBC Hausa Service that locals were busy at the weekly market when the armed gang struck.
“The gunmen arrived around 4.30-5pm and laid siege to the market shooting from all ends,’’ one witness said.
“People were confused as some had to lie down to escape the sporadic shootings whilst some ran for their lives; though some ill-fated ones had to succumb to ghosts.”
According to their accounts, no fewer than 49 dead bodies have littered the market place and 17 others wounded and were rushed to a hospital in Sokoto, “whilst the bodies have been deposited to morgue in the general hospital Goronyo.”
Another witness said that mobile policemen and local vigilantes attempted to disperse the rampaging gunmen but they were overpowered.
Traders from Sokoto and neighboring states as well as Niger Republic patronise Goronyo market every Sunday.
