Bandits invade Niger communities, kill four, abduct many

Many people fled their homes as bandits invaded Bobi, a community in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State Thursday.

Among those kidnapped was the District Head, Alhaji Jibrin Aliyu Bobi.

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Daily Trust gathered that the bandits invaded the community around 6pm where they also abducted an unspecified number of people including women.

A resident of the community, Ashiru Abubakar, told our correspondent that the bandits came on motorcycles and moved from house to house kidnapping people.

“We were about going for Maghrib prayers when they came. They took us unaware and kidnapped the district head and several others, especially women. For now, we don’t know the number of people kidnapped because when they started the operation, we all ran. So, we can’t give an account of people kidnapped until those who ran return,” he said.

Bobi is located 34km away from Mariga and 59km from Kontagora – the home of the proposed grazing reserves in Niger State.

The Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, had earlier yesterday raised an alarm through his Chief Press Secretary, Mary Noel-Berje, that banditry activities in the area had disrupted the grazing reserves project.

Mariga, the Headquarters of Mariga Local Government, is also home to one of the biggest cattle markets in Niger State.

Similarly, bandits also reportedly invaded Kasuwan-Garba, a few kilometers from Bobi, on Wednesday killing four persons and abducting several others.

A resident of the community, Abdulazeez Hassan, told our correspondent that the attack on Kasuwan-Garba took place in the morning.

“At around 10am, we were in the school when we heard gunshots, and we immediately closed the school and ran for our lives. But thank God, with security intervention, they were chased out. But they succeeded in abducting many women.

“The security agents and our vigilantes exchanged gunfire with the bandits for almost four hours where four of our youth lost their lives. Actually, bandits attack here has become a daily occurrence, the situation is worsening every day in kasuwan Garba and the neighboring communities,” he said.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Niger State, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, could not be reached for comments as his number was not reachable as of the time of filing this report.