Terrorists abduct 9 farmers in Niger

No fewer than 9 people, including a nursing mother and her less than one-year-old baby, have been abducted in Kuchi community of Munya Local Government Area of Niger State.

Daily Trust Saturday gathered that no life was lost in the attack, but dozens of people have fled their homes to Sarkin-Pawa, the headquarters of Munya Local Government, as well as Gwada displaced persons’ camp in Shiroro Local Government Area and Minna, the state capital.

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The police public relations officer, Niger State command, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, who confirmed the incident, said 9 people were kidnapped.

Abiodun said police tactical teams with vigilante members had been drafted to the area to trail the hoodlums and rescue the victims.

The fleeing villagers, however, said 50 people were kidnapped in the area during a heavy rain that fell around 2am on Friday.

It was gathered that after the victims were taken out of their homes about 2am on Friday, terrorists, alongside their captives, got trapped for hours without access to their exit route to move out of Munya Local Government because of the overflow of Dangunu River, a few kilometers from the attacked community due to heavy downpour.

Multiple sources said if security operatives were on ground to engage the terrorists immediately, the victims would have been rescued before they exited the community.

Sani Abubakar Yusuf Kokki, co-convener of Concerned Shiroro Youths, said, “Terrorists in their large numbers invaded the town (Kuchi) in the midnight, which resulted in mass abduction of people.  They stormed the community around 2am while it was raining, and instantly launched a house-to-house operation and assembled their victims for onward movement to their enclave.”

One of the displaced persons also told our correspondent that the bandits kidnapped many people.

Kuchi, one of the largest farming communities in Munya Local Government, has suffered incessant attacks and dozens of residents displaced in the last few months.