Armed men killed at least 20 people and abducted several others in attacks on villages in Nigeria’s northwestern Niger state, residents and humanitarian sources said. The raids struck communities in Shiroro district, about 250 km (155 miles) — roughly a four-hour drive — from the capital, Abuja.
Gunmen riding motorbikes attacked the villages of Bagna and Erena early Tuesday morning, Niger state police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said. Abiodun gave an official toll of three dead — two community guards and a driver — but multiple local sources, including residents, a health facility and a community group, told media the actual death toll was nearer 20.
Witnesses said the assailants operated for several hours, overwhelming local security forces, burning homes and forcing many residents to flee to neighbouring villages. “They came on motorbikes and began shooting. It was a surprise attack, because it was in the early hours of the morning,” resident Jibrin Isah told the Associated Press.
Local clergy and officials said the incident forms part of a wider surge in violence across northwest Nigeria this week, with more than 40 people killed in attacks that began late Sunday. At least nine remote villages in neighbouring Kebbi and Niger states were affected.
No group has formally claimed responsibility. Residents and police blamed Mahmuda, a local jihadist faction that split from Boko Haram and has since allied with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Local religious leaders said the attackers struck indiscriminately. “They killed everybody in sight, they killed Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers,” one Christian leader told AFP.
Humanitarian sources warned the assaults have increased displacement and raised fears of further raids across the isolated rural belt, where kidnapping gangs and Islamist militants have been active for years.