Ibrahim Sidi, an official with the Maru local government in Zamfara state, said he and other officials counted the dead after Monday´s attack.
Talatu Mai Tasshi, a woman who escaped the violence, said she hid inside of empty sacks as the gunmen stalked other people preparing to sell their goods.[break]
Police said they had begun an investigation into the attacks.
There have been several major attacks in the state, a rural, arid land that includes part of Nigeria´s northern border with Niger. Police stations remain few and far between in the rural lands.
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