Bandits kill 32 people in Northern Nigeria

Nigerian soldiers

Nigerian soldiers patrolling in the north of Borno state close to a Islamist extremist group Boko Haram former camp near Maiduguri. Over the weekend bandits attacked communities in northwest Kaduna state, killed scores and kidnapped several others, mainly women.

Photo credit: File | AFP

Bandits have invaded several communities in northern Nigeria, killed at least 32 people, abducted an unspecified number and burnt houses and vehicles, authorities confirmed.

In the Saturday and Sunday attacks in northwest Kaduna state, bandits killed 15 people and kidnapped several others, mainly women, in a raid that lasted several hours.

The attacks were reportedly in retaliation for assaults by vigilantes on Friday in the Ungwan Bula, Unguwar Dafillo and Ijinga villages in Randagi district of Birnin-Gwari.

The bandits returned to the villages on Saturday morning and killed 15 people, including six local vigilante members and nine villagers and kidnapped an unspecified number of people.

The assailants also blocked the Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari road at about 10am and attacked motorists.

The chairman of Birnin-Gwari Vanguards for Security and Good Governance, Mr Ibrahim Nagwari, who escaped with bullet wounds, confirmed the attacks.

He said the bandits sprayed bullets on the group’s vehicle in Manini village along the Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari highway.

Similarly, more than 100 bandits stormed communities in the area of Niger state in north-central Nigeria and killed 17 villagers.

The attack, which started on Saturday night, lasted until the early hours of Sunday, with the bandits also stealing cattle, internal security official Emmanuel Umar confirmed.

The communities ransacked by the bandits included Egbako, Ndaruka, Ebbo, Ndagbegi, Tshogi, Gogata and Ndakogitu.

Mr Umar said after an emergency security meeting on Sunday that the government would seek the support of local communities to neutralise the bandits.

He said officials were thinking about deploying fighter jets to join ground troops in an offensive against the marauders.