At least 30 individuals have been killed in a violent assault by armed men on a village in Nigeria’s Niger state, according to state authorities. The attackers also reportedly looted local businesses during the raid.
Police reports indicate that the assailants, emerging from a nearby forest near Kasuwan-Daji on Saturday, set fire to the local market, pillaged shops, and abducted an undetermined number of residents.
Speaking to the BBC’s Hausa service, a local journalist stated, “The gunmen, armed and on motorcycles, stormed the town, gathered residents, and proceeded to massacre them, while others were fatally shot.”
While attacks and kidnappings perpetrated by armed criminal gangs, often referred to as bandits, have persisted in Nigeria for years, recent reports indicate a surge in such incidents within the western and central regions.
Abdullahi Rofia, an official with the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, corroborated the journalist’s account, confirming the rounding up and killing of villagers.
He conveyed to the BBC the palpable fear within the community, stating, “They are in hiding, too afraid to speak to anyone.”
“They fear that speaking out could result in them suffering the same fate.”
Niger state police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, stated that an emergency response team has been deployed to provide assistance to the injured, and security forces are actively working to secure the release of those kidnapped.
Although the payment of ransom to these criminal groups, which the government has designated as terrorists, is illegal, reports suggest that this prohibition is frequently disregarded.
A witness to the attack informed BBC Hausa that no security forces were present in the village during the incident.
“We implore the government to assist us. We previously only heard of these incidents occurring in other areas, but now they are happening in our own villages,” he said.
This escalating fear is compelling residents to flee their ancestral homes.
“We are being killed like chickens. Does the government even care about us?
“The government is aware of these events, but it is not taking any action. What can we, as ordinary citizens, do?”
The assault occurred just one day after Niger state authorities announced a phased reopening of schools, following a mass kidnapping that prompted their closure as part of emergency security measures.
In November, over 250 students and staff members from St Mary’s Catholic school in Papiri, Niger state, were abducted.
It marked one of the country’s most significant kidnapping incidents to date; however, just before Christmas, officials confirmed that all of the missing students and teachers had been rescued.
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