Some 100 attackers are alleged to have entered the two nearby settlements of Beni in Munya LG and Adunu in Paikoro LG in two separate groups.
After a gunman attack on towns in Niger State’s Paikoro and Munya Local Government Areas (LGAs), a soldier was murdered.
A village leader and a doctor were also slain by the gunmen who opened fire again, and they kidnapped well over 60 people, including women and children.
Over 100 attackers in two distinct groups are reported to have broken into the nearby settlements of Beni in Munya LGA and Adunu in Paikoro LGA on Monday during the daytime and carried out a house-to-house raid, robbing the residents of their possessions, including money, other valuables, and food.
At Beni, the mob kidnapped roughly 20 people, including women and children, and murdered the village chief, Alhaji Salihu Ahmed, when they saw him returning from the farm.
While over 40 people, including women, children, and a retired police officer named Moses Tanko aka Arada System, were taken away from the Adunu community, a medical professional named Joshua Bitrus was also killed by the group that invaded the community when he attempted to flee into the bush upon sighting the gunmen.
Those who could pay between N10,000 and N20,000 in cash, whether in old or new notes, according to a source close to the villages, were freed by the gunmen, Channels Television was told by the source.
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After raiding the two communities, the gunmen were ambushed by the Joint Security Task Force at Sarkin Pawa. The ensuing gun battle resulted in the deaths of a member of the task force and a local vigilante, while several others suffered injuries of varying severity and are currently being treated at a government hospital in Minna, the state capital.
The gunmen also vandalised two patrol cars belonging to the Joint Security Task Force, shattering the windscreens and tyres with gunfire.
On Friday, sources told Channels Television that during the heavy gunfight with the security forces that lasted over an hour, an unidentified number of the gunmen who were travelling in roughly 35 motorbikes and in three groups were slain.
The Niger State Police Command has not yet responded to the most recent attacks.
Emmanuel Umar, the state’s commissioner for internal security and humanitarian affairs, claimed to be aware of the occurrence but had not yet received information on the attacks. He promised to make a statement to that effect.
