Nigeria: 16 killed in armed attack on village near Niger border

Gunmen have killed sixteen villagers and injured six others in an attack on a community near its border. Nigeria with Niger, a resident and a local official said.

According to APE-MPE, the attack took place in the early hours of the morning in the village of Tara, in the state of Sokoto. This was followed by a series of similar armed groups that the authorities in the area generally call bandits, “criminal elements”. These groups have been sowing terror for years, killing, looting, and often kidnapping.

“They arrived on motorcycles and started throwing in the village,” said community resident Lavalle Ume. “We buried 16 people in the afternoon. Nine others were seriously injured. “

The report was confirmed by the local official of Saidu Naino Ibrahim, who clarified that the injured were taken to hospital. “The perpetrators of the attack stole more than 100 cows,” he added. They came from Dogon Zango, in the neighboring state of Zamfara.

Armed groups are raiding camps in the Rugo forest, which stretches across the states of Zamfara, Katsina and Cantuna, as well as parts of Niger.

The Nigerian army had deployed forces in the region in 2016 and a peace agreement was signed with some of these armed groups in 2019; but the horrors continue.

“Evil elements are launching raids on villages in the area (…), going from village to village, killing, looting,” said Mr. Ibrahim.

The police, for their part, simply confirmed in a statement that there was an attack on Tara, without going into details.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday expressed grave concern over the escalation of violence in northwestern Nigeria.

“More than 7,660 Nigerian refugees have fled to Maradi in neighboring Nigeria since the beginning of the year, raising fears of militant groups and inter-community violence,” he said. to 77,000 in this poor and volatile area, according to the UNHCR.

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