JOHN ADAMS, MINNA
Armed banditry activities in Niger state has taken a different dimension with the latest attack coming from Kokoki community in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state where over 200 people have fled their homes following midnight raid by armed bandits.
Although no casualty has been recorded in this latest attack, no fewer than six people, all male, were taken way by the armed invaders.
A community source told our correspondent that the bandits who stormed the community in a commando-like manner in the early hours of Monday, ransacked every house, dispossessing the people of their valuables.
The bandits about 200 hundred in number who arrived the community in about 50 motorcycles were said to have shared themselves into groups as they moved from one settlement to another, shooting sporadically into the air and asking the people to surrender their money and other belongings in operation the people said lasted over three hours.
The latest attack is coming barely two months after a similar invasion of some villages in the same Shiroro local government which left about 70 people dead and over 100 people injured, with about 800 heads of cattle rustled away.
However, about 120 people mostly women and children who escaped the Monday night attack are currently taking refuge in Ahmad’s Attahiru secondary school and Lafene primary school in neighboring Kagara, in Rafi Local government area of the state.
Women and Children were seen crossing stream to a safe zone in Kagara town where they are currently taking refuge.
The villagers were said to have escaped without taking any property along with themselves while the women among them were seeing backing their little children.
The Director General of the State Emergency Management Agency Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Inga when contacted confirmed the incident describing it “as unfortunate” saying also that the “local government is handling the matter”.
The Niger state police command has confirmed the story.
The Public Relations Officer DSP Muhammad Abubakar said, “We have an incident like that in that area.
“The police are reviewing the security architecture of communities in the hinterland because it appears they are prone to this type of security breach,” DSP Abubakar said.
The police spokesman said the police are not aware of anyone being kidnapped but assured that the bandits would be arrested.