20120612
AP
KANO, Nigeria (AP) — A local government official says armed robbers in north Nigeria killed 27 people while attacking villages preparing for a local market day.

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.

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.