Residents flee Niger community after mass abduction

Hundreds of residents have fled their villages in a rural community in Niger state following weekend attacks by armed groups that left 10 dead and at least 160 missing, Reuters reported on Monday.

Gunmen on motorbikes first attacked the Kuchi community in Munya local government area on Friday evening, killing five residents and five hunters who tried to fight back, before kidnapping dozens of people, said local chairman Aminu Ajume.

The gunmen returned on Sunday night, seizing livestock and food and burning shops, forcing at least 700 villagers to flee to nearby communities, Mr Ajume added.

“As I am speaking to you, Munya is (a) no-go area. They moved from house to house abducting people … they abducted 160 villagers, including women,” he told Reuters by phone.

Maryam Abubakar, a resident, said she hid in the toilet when she heard sporadic gunfire around 7 pm on Friday and gunmen burst into her home shortly after.

“It was raining at that time. The bandits entered the house, searched the rooms and kitchen, and they took my aunt and her two children,” Abubakar said, adding the three were still missing.

Musa Auwal was in his shop when gunmen attacked on Friday but hid in a nearby bush. When he returned the next day, his shop had been looted, so he fled to stay with relatives 60 km away.

Attacks by Bandits

Niger state has been hit by waves of violent attacks for years as kidnapping gangs, known locally as bandits, and members from a faction of the insurgent group Boko Haram joined forces to attack residents.

The attacks have continued a year after President Bola Tinubu came to power promising to end widespread insecurity, kidnappings in the northwest by armed gangs demanding ransoms have become almost routine.

Boko Haram has been fighting an insurgency in the northeast since 2009. The Niger authorities have previously said its smaller faction had cells in the state and carried out some attacks.

The police and army spokespersons in Niger state did not respond to several requests for comment, according to Reuters.