Eight members of Nigeria’s security forces, five policemen and three members of a paramilitary group supporting the local government, were killed in an ambush by gunmen in Zamfara state (northwest) on Thursday, authorities said.

Zamfara, like other states in the northwest and central part of the most populous African country, has been plagued for years by the violence of armed criminal organizations, generally called bandits. They mainly engage in animal theft and kidnapping for ransom.

These gangs often launch bloody raids on villages, killing residents and setting houses and shops on fire after looting them.

The perpetrators of the attack opened fire on a convoy of security forces as they patrolled a road connecting Zamfara with neighboring Katsina yesterday after noon (around 15:00 Greek time), the authorities explained.

“I have just learned the sad news of the death of eight members of the security services, including policemen and community guards, who were ambushed by miscreants and killed on a road connecting (the cities of) Gusau and Fudua”the state governor said Doda Lawal Dear through Facebook.

In a statement, the police confirmed that “five brave” men “paid with their lives (…) in the line of duty” during a patrol, without mentioning the militiamen.

According to the same source, the men returned fire, killing some of the assailants and putting others to flight. No numbers were given.

Attacks by bandits are constant on this road, where gangs open fire on vehicles and kidnap passengers, which has forced the authorities to increase patrols.

The military has been deployed to the area to subdue the gangs, but violence continues.

Attempts at reconciliation, through amnesties and financial incentives, have also failed to end the attacks.

Communities in Kaduna and Katsina states have tried since last year to conclude peace agreements with the bandits, but security experts point out that such arrangements allow the thugs to remain in their bases and simply shift their action, attacking elsewhere.

Although it is generally believed that they have an exclusive source of money, some of the gangs cooperate, in one way or another, with the jihadist organizations that continue an insurgency that began sixteen years ago in the north-eastern part of the country.