Fifteen people have been reportedly killed by gunmen suspected to be bandits in Ukuru village in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State.
Daily Trust gathered that those killed were mostly men who were met at a tea joint taking their breakfast.
It was said that the gunmen, who invaded the village on motorcycles, started shooting sporadically.
It was also gathered that the attack is a reprisal as a result of a prior incident when men of the local vigilante group repelled an attack by the bandits during which they reportedly killed four of the armed men.
An eyewitness said they waited for most of the strong men to go to the farm before launching the attack and also escaped with some animals.
Efforts to get confirmation of the story from the police proved abortive as the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Wasiu Abiodun, did not respond to calls made to his cell phone.
Abiodun did not also reply to the SMS sent to his phone.
Officials of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) were also not available for comment as they have gone on inspection of the resettlement of flood victims in Suleja.
The Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, had commended the efforts of security operatives in the fight against banditry in their Sahel operation.
Bello, in a statement, said life was returning to normal in some hitherto bandits-infected areas because people were now going to their farms and taking part in other businesses.
He said that an army camp will be set up in the state to check bandits’ attacks.
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