Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has renewed his call on the Federal Government to bring perpetrators of the latest deadly attack in Sokoto State to justice, following a bandit assault on Ungushi community in Kebbe Local Government Area that left dozens of residents dead.

The attack unfolded on Friday, August 14, when gunmen stormed Ungushi while residents were observing Jumu’a prayers at around 2:15 pm, parking their motorcycles near the community mosque before dispersing worshippers and opening fire.

Residents say the attackers killed several people in that initial assault, withdrew, and then returned more than once over the following hours to kill additional victims, including the community’s respected Chief Imam.

Casualty figures have varied across reports, with some residents putting the toll as high as 32, though police in the state have yet to independently confirm the numbers, saying their information so far is limited to what was gathered during a military visit to the area. Community members also claim that at least 13 of the attackers were killed by residents who fought back during the prolonged assault, an account that has likewise not been independently verified.

The Ungushi killing came just a day after a separate attack on nearby Kebbe town, where suspected Lakurawa militants reportedly overwhelmed troops and killed several soldiers, prompting the Nigerian Army’s 8 Division to reposition forces in the area. Security sources have linked both incidents to the wider Lakurawa insurgency straddling the Sokoto-Zamfara-Kebbi axis, a region that has recorded a steady string of bandit raids, abductions and killings in recent months, including a separate attack that reportedly killed dozens more in Sabon Birni earlier in August.

Reacting to the violence, Atiku, who has consistently positioned himself as a vocal critic of the Tinubu administration’s handling of insecurity in the north, urged the Federal Government to move beyond condemnation and ensure that those responsible for the Sokoto killings are identified, arrested and prosecuted. The former vice president’s intervention follows a now-familiar pattern in his public statements on repeated bandit attacks across Nigeria’s north-west and north-central regions, in which he has consistently argued that routine expressions of sympathy from Abuja are no substitute for a genuine overhaul of the country’s security architecture, including more intelligence-driven operations and a stronger military presence in vulnerable rural communities.

The renewed criticism adds to mounting pressure on federal authorities over the deteriorating security situation in Sokoto State, where communities in Sabon Birni, Rabah, Bodinga and now Kebbe have suffered a wave of attacks in recent weeks that have killed scores of people, displaced entire villages and left residents demanding stronger protection ahead of what many fear could be further escalation in the region.