Armed men raid a Nigerian village and kill at least 30

Armed men killed at least 30 people during an attack on a village in Nigeria, according to state authorities, the BBC reported on January 4th.

The attackers stormed the village of Kasuwan-Daji, in Niger state, on January 3rd, destroyed the local market, looted shops and abducted several people, according to the police.

“The gunmen entered the town on motorcycles carrying weapons, rounded up people and then proceeded to slaughter them, while others were shot dead,” a local journalist said.

Abdullahi Rofia from the Niger State Emergency Management Agency confirmed the journalist’s testimony. “They are scared that if you talk, they will turn and do the same to you,” he said, referring to the people in the community.

Armed criminal gangs, known as bandits, have been a problem in Nigeria for years, but reports of attacks and kidnappings in western and central regions have increased recently.

Officials deployed an emergency team to help the injured, and security forces to rescue those kidnapped, according to the Niger state police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun. Paying ransom to criminal groups classified as terrorists by the government is illegal, but there are claims that the law is often ignored.

A witness said there were no security forces in the village. “We want the government to help us. In the past, we used to hear about this problem in other places, but now it is happening in our villages,” he added.

Fear is driving people from the homes where they were born and raised.

“The government hears and sees what is happening, but it is not doing anything about it. What can we do as ordinary people?”

The incident comes amid a rise in armed kidnappings targeting schools in Nigeria. It happened the day after authorities announced the phased reopening of schools, which were closed as part of emergency security measures after a mass kidnapping.

Hundreds of students and staff from a local Catholic school in Papiri, Niger state, were kidnapped in November. It was among the country’s worst kidnappings, but all missing students and teachers were rescued, officials said.

Another incident in November saw 24 girls kidnapped from a boarding school in Kebbi state, Nigeria. All were rescued by authorities over a week after the abduction.

BBC, Maghrebi.org