John Adam’s, Minna
No fewer than 3,500 people from 17 communities in Rafi and Shiroro local government areas of Niger State have been forced to relocate from their ancestral homes following sustained armed bandits’ attack on their areas.
The attack which the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) said occurred on Thursday night last week, claimed five lives.
According to the Director-General of the Agency, Alhaji Ibrahim Inga, 35 people were suspected to have been abducted by the gunmen as they have been declared missing after the invasion.
Inga disclosed that said about 3,500 people who flee the attack were currently being camped at Kagara Central Primary School and Pandogari Primary School.
The agency said that the state government had provided some palliatives in form of food items and sleeping materials to the displaced people, adding that relief materials would be distributed to the affected people within the week.
According to him, “NSEMA has activated the temporal camps with profiling of the affected persons while health personnel have been deployed to the two camps.
“The state government has directed the provision of all requirements for camp operations,” he said.
He, however, ruled out the possibility of elections taking place in the affected communities this Saturday, adding that “the security personnel have been over stretched because of the election.”
The last invasion by the bandits was coming barely one week after the senator representing Niger East senatorial district, David Umoru, and that of Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, raised the alarm over the deteriorating security situation in parts of the state.
The two senators claimed that about 15 people were killed in two different attacks.
This was also collaborated by the special adviser to the governor in zone, Mr Pius Wakili, who confirmed that out of the 15 people that were kidnapped last week, 13 were still in the custody of their adopters while one had been killed.
He said the attacks were more prominent in communities around Munya and Shiroro local governments which border the southern and eastern parts of Kaduna and Zamfara states.