A gang of gunmen unleashed mayhem in Zamfara state on Monday, killing 27 people, including a policeman, and injuring eight other people.

According to reports, the gunmen entered into Dangulbi town, a district of Dansadau Emirate in Maru LGA of the state, under the guise of traders on the market day in Dangulbi.

However, they remained after the market closed before embarking on reprisal attacks.

According to the Vanguard, the gunmen were retaliating the killings of some gunmen by both vigilante and police forces in Dansadau.

They began their attacks at 1 a.m. on Monday as the gunmen opened fire awaking villagers from their sleep. The assailants allegedly went from one building to the next, murdering its occupants in cold blood.

The district head of Dangulbi, Alhaji Shehu Umar was among the people who narrowly escaped death, the Vanguard reported.

The assailants, who came into the town on motorcycles, left immediately after the hours-long operation, with 18 bodies in their trail. They killed another nine people along their route home.

A resident, Alhaji Lawali Dangulbi, who spoke to Vanguard at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Gusau, said another eight people suffered severe injuries from the attacks.

Dangulbi said gunmen attacked the police, killing one police officer and injuring others. Police officers then fled the area, leaving the gunmen to continue their killing spree.

Dangulbi refuted reports that the gunmen were armed robbers as they claimed only lives and no property.