Twelve members of one family have been killed after armed bandits set their room on fire during an attack on a village in Zamfara State, north-west Nigeria.

The attack took place on Saturday night in Gidan Taba village, in Dosara Birnin Kaya Ward of Maradun Local Government Area. The gunmen stormed the community and targeted the home of Mallam Muhammadu Sani, according to local sources.

The family members had gathered in a single room in an attempt to avoid being abducted. The attackers set the room ablaze, and all 12 died from the intense heat of the fire, the chairman of Maradun Local Government Area, Sanusi Ahmed Dosara, confirmed.

“A father, his wives and small children, 12 of them, were all killed by fire,” Dosara said, describing the attack as heartbreaking and inhuman. He said the victims died from the extreme heat rather than direct contact with the flames.

Several other residents were abducted during the attack, although the exact number has not been confirmed. The 12 victims were buried on Sunday morning in accordance with Islamic rites, with family members and sympathisers gathered in the village.

Security agencies had not issued an official statement on the attack at the time of reporting, and it was not clear whether any arrests had been made. The incident is the latest in a long-running wave of bandit attacks on rural communities in Zamfara and across north-west Nigeria, where armed groups have repeatedly killed residents and abducted people for ransom.