Nigeria: Gunmen kill 60 in northwestern village attacks

Nigeria’s fragile security situation has seemingly been undermined once again amid reports that gunmen killed 60 people in the northwest, according to Africa News via AFP on April 8th.

Local humanitarian sources and clergymen said the attacks spanned the Kebbi and Niger States, targeting at least 10 villages in the northwestern states.

Reports stated that 20 people were killed in the Niger State’s Erena attack, with a military security source saying the attackers were “bandits” with “sophisticated arms” who “invaded [a] military camp.”

In Kebbi State, a clergy member confirmed at least 24 deaths, but said: “From the reports we are getting today, there are more than 40 killed.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, although police have blamed a local jihadist group, Mahmuda, for the Kebbi attacks.

Kebbi was attacked by Lakurawa militants in February, killing at least 33 people after crossing into Kebbi from Sokoto State; Lakurawa originates in the Sahel but primarily operates in northwestern Nigeria.

The state is located near the border region of Niger and Benin, where Islamists have become increasingly entrenched.

Militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) have expanded their operations in northern Nigeria and parts of Niger and Benin.

Similarly, Niger State was attacked by gunmen in March, killing 15 people through three simultaneous attacks across three villages.

Niger State borders Kwara State, where gunmen killed at least 162 people in February; the attacks also set fire to shops and the king’s palace in the village of Woro.

Groups affiliated with the Islamic State, including Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), are particularly active in the northeastern Borno State, which borders Cameroon.

In northwest and central Nigeria, criminal gangs and intercommunal violence are thought to be more prevalent than Islamist terrorism, which primarily targets the northeast.

Amid growing Islamist violence in West Africa and the Sahel, Nigeria is one of several countries to back a proposed regional counter-terrorism task force, which was announced by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in March.

Similarly, 200 US troops were deployed to Nigeria in February to fight jihadists; their presence was possibly linked to allegations that a Christian genocide is occurring in Nigeria.

These allegations have been backed by US President Donald Trump, despite there being no evidence of widespread Christian persecution in the West African country.

Africa News via AFP, Maghrebi.org