Adamawa State Governor Bindo Jibrilla on Friday called for the arrest of perpetrators of the attack that left 42 persons dead in Zamfara State.

The attack was carried out by suspected armed bandits on Thursday in Birane village in Zurmi Local Government Area of the state, in North-west Nigeria.

President Muhammadu Buhari had strongly condemned the killings which he described as “heinous and inhuman attacks” on defenceless citizens.

He consequently directed the Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Mansur Dan Ali (Rtd), to proceed immediately to Zamfara to undertake an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and report back.

The President also ordered the security agencies to immediately mobilise and deploy their members to the vulnerable areas of the state, and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to face the full wrath of the law.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Macauley Hunohashi, Governor Jibrilla also described the killings as unfortunate, barbaric, cowardly and highly condemnable.

“The spate of killings of humans by humans, in many parts of the country, is strange and alien to our culture and tradition, it is also against our two major religions,” he said.

The Adamawa Governor also lamented that “the change in narratives from mutual cohabitation to destruction of lives and property is rather astonishing.”

He was, however, confident that the perpetrators of the dastardly act would soon be brought to justice.

The governor, who condoled with the families of the victims as well as the government and people of Zamfara State over the killings, prayed Allah to grant the souls of the departed Aljanna Firdausi.

Earlier, the Police Public Relations Officer in Zamfara State, Mr Muhammad Shehu, told Channels Television in an interview that the attack was a reprisal.

He, however, said the Command had commenced an investigation into the killings, in order to arrest the perpetrators of the attack.

The social media on Friday went agog after gunmen attacked Birane village, Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State killing 18 residents in the process.

The gunmen suspected to be herdsmen attacked the village when hunters from Birani village intercepted and accosted a herder in the bush with some cattle and sheep suspected to have been stolen.

The herdsmen later returned to the village killing 18 persons.

The year 2018 began with reports of killings in various part of the country hitting the headlines. President Muhammadu Buhari in reaction to the New Year tragedy which occurred in Rivers, Ilorin, Benue and Kaduna State expressed shock and condoled with the victims.

The year continued with increased attacks and death recorded in communities in Kaduna, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Benue, Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun among others.

Nigerians including Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State and Senator Shehu Sani in the wake of the attack took to their Twitter handle to lament the spate of killings in various part of the country birthing a trend #Zamfara #Zamfaramassacre.