At least 30 dead after attack by gunmen in village in northern Nigeria

At least 30 villagers were killed while several others were kidnapped by gunmen who attacked a village in the north of the country. Nigeria Niger State, police said Sunday, is the latest in a cycle of deadly violence in the conflict-hit region.

The gunmen on Saturday night stormed Kasuwan-Daji village in Borgu Local Government Area of ​​Niger State and opened fire on residents. They also razed the local market and several houses, Niger state police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement.

At least two residents put the death toll at 37 and believe it could be much higher because some people were still missing Sunday. Residents also said security forces had not yet arrived in the area, contradicting the police’s claim that they had deployed officers to search for the kidnapped people.

The Rev. Stephen Kabirat, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in the diocese of Kontagora, where the attack took place, told local media that the gunmen had killed more than 40 people and that among those kidnapped were children.

The gunmen had been roaming nearby communities for about a week before the attack, according to a resident who asked to remain anonymous out of fear for his safety. Now the survivors are too afraid to go and collect the bodies.

“The bodies are there (in Kasuwan-Daji village). If we don’t see any security, how can we go there?” said the resident, adding that the attack lasted up to three hours.

Such attacks are common in Nigeria, It is Africa’s most populous country, where dozens of rogue gangs seeking to take control often target isolated communities where security and government presence are limited.

Saturday’s attack in the village of Kasuwan-Daji occurred near the community of Papiri, where more than 300 schoolchildren and their teachers were present. were kidnapped from a Catholic school in November.

The attackers who attacked Kasuwan-Daji came from the national park forest in Kabe district, police said, highlighting a common pattern of vast abandoned forest reserves serving as hideouts for armed gangs.