No fewer than 12 people have been killed following an attack by gunmen on Peigyim village, near Kibori at Atyap Chiefdom in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs in Kaduna, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the attack in a statement on Monday.

He explained that the gunmen invaded the community on Sunday night and opened fire on the residents, leading to the death of 12 locals.

While two other residents who were injured during the attack have been taken to a hospital for treatment, security operatives were reported to be combing the area with a view to arresting the perpetrators.

In his reaction, Governor Nasir El-Rufai condemned the attack and condoled with the grieving families of the victims.

He also prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed and wished those injured a quick recovery.

The attack comes barely 24 hours after a pastor of the ECWA Church was murdered in the same community.

Kaduna is one of the states in the North-West and North-Central that have been caught up in violence from heavily armed criminal gangs who loot villages, steal cattle, and carry out mass kidnappings.

The violence has its roots in years-long tensions and tit-for-tat raids between farmers and nomadic herders over grazing land and water resources.

The criminal gangs, also known as bandits, often attack in large numbers and arrive on motorbikes.

Typically motivated by financial gain, they have been targeting schools and colleges, kidnapping students and pupils for ransom.

On their part, security forces have carried out operations and airstrikes on the camps of the criminals which are hidden deep in the forests that span Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, and the Niger States.

This is, however, not enough to stop the violence from escalating.

While the Federal Government warned that paying ransoms would provoke more kidnappings, authorities in some states have tried to negotiate amnesty deals to stop the attacks.

But those accords have failed most of the time.