President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed outrage at the latest reports of several villagers being massacred by escaping bandits in Zamfara.

Garba Shehu, the president’s media aide in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, said the president, who was reacting to reports of the large-scale killings, said:

“The latest attacks on innocent people by the bandits is an act of desperation by mass murderers, now under relentless pressure from our military forces who are well equipped to effectively confront these enemies of humanity.

“In keeping with my commitment to tackle the monster of terrorism head on, let me reassure these besieged communities and other Nigerians that this government will not abandon them to their fate because we are more than ever determined to get rid of these outlaws.

“These criminals will be history because we are not going to relent in our current military operations to get rid of these thugs who have been terrorising innocent people.”

Timeline.ng had reported the attack on five villages in Anka and Bukkuyum local government areas from Tuesday to Wednesday.

By Saturday, residents said they had buried about 200 victims of the attack.

On Saturday, President Buhari appealed to the affected communities for patience, saying: “We are fiercely determined to smoke out and destroy these outlaws who have no regard for the sanctity of life.”

He extended his sympathy to the survivors and families of those killed.

According to him, the army and the air force are working together to get rid of the “callous criminals.”

He added that already, the army had acquired more equipment to track down and eliminate ”criminal gangs that are subjecting innocent people to the reign of terror, including the illegal imposition of taxes on the communities under siege.” (NAN)