Investigators suspect a criminal gang was behind the Sunday morning killings of nearly two dozen men in a marketplace in northern Nigeria, a government official said.
The killings took place near a mosque in the village of Dogon Dawa, in the northern state of Kaduna. The attackers left 23 dead and 17 wounded, said Musa Ilallah, a regional coordinator with Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.
"Today is a market day at the village, so many people were out shopping," Ilallah said.
The victims, all of them men, had just left morning prayers at a nearby mosque, he said.
The surrounding district is notorious for armed robberies, and Dogon Dawa is surrounded by a forest that criminals use as a hideout. Ilallah said he was sure the attack was aimed at villagers who participate in a community watch group, "because they expose the criminals and their hideouts to police."
