Armed bandits attacked Gidan Taba village in the Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, in northwest Nigeria.^[1] They killed a local security volunteer and 10 of his relatives.^[2] The gunmen burnt the bodies, torched the home and abducted 13 people.^[3] Two counts of the dead The figures do not agree. The Daily Trust reported that twelve members of the same family were killed after bandits set their residence ablaze.^[4] The Zamfara State Police Command confirmed the attack and listed the death toll as 11.^[5] The abduction counts differ too. The Daily Trust reported seven other residents abducted.^[6] The police figure carried by Reuters is 13. Why this family The dead volunteer was part of a government-backed vigilante group.^[7] The gunmen targeted him because they saw him as an obstacle.^[8] A security expert, Dr Kabiru Adamu, described the killing as a targeted reprisal against a vigilante.^[9] The calls for help Security agencies did not respond to the community's distress calls before the attack ended.^[10] Security forces were deployed afterwards to secure the abducted hostages.^[11] The state's year More than 100 people were killed in bandit attacks across Zamfara State between 1 May and 7 November.^[12] Northwest Nigeria has faced years of such attacks.^[13] On the higher count, this one household accounts for 12 of those deaths in a single night.