Four Killed As Bandits Attack Village In Niger

Bandits have attacked Damala village in Woko district of Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, killing at least four persons.

The attack, which happened in the early hours of Saturday, January 10 comes barely one week after gunmen killed 42 residents in several communities, including the Kasuwan ⁠Daji market in Demo village, in Borgu and neighbouring Agwara LGAs.

The Niger State Police Command confirmed the latest onslaught to Channels Television on Sunday.

In a statement, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, said the attackers stormed the village, rustled an unspecified number of cattle, and killed four residents during the attack

He said the gunmen also set several shops in the community ablaze before fleeing the scene.

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Abiodun, a Superintendent of Police, stated that security agencies promptly responded to the incident and have since visited the affected area.

He added that a clearance operation is currently ongoing, while security monitoring has been intensified to prevent further attacks and ensure the safety of residents.

The Command’s spokesman assured the public that efforts are being sustained to apprehend the perpetrators and restore normalcy in the area.

Bandits have frequently carried out mass kidnappings for ransom and loot villages in the North-Central and North-Western parts of the country.

Niger State has been one of the hardest hit in recent months. Other states affected include Kaduna, Benue, Plateau, Kebbi and Zamfara.

In November, armed gangs seized more than 250 students and staff from a Catholic school in Niger State.

Authorities announced their release in two batches weeks later, without saying whether a ransom was paid.

The latest attack took place less than 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Papiri village, where the students and teachers were snatched from their school.

The local church for the area put the death toll from Saturday’s raid at more than 40, higher than the figure given by police.

“Reports indicate the bandits operated for hours with no security presence,” the Catholic Church in Kontagora said on its Facebook page.

Information Minister Mohammed Idris said that when the Kasuwan ⁠Daji market was struck, “the bullets” did not “choose victims based on religion.”

“Those killed and those abducted — were traders, farmers, parents, schoolchildren from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds,” he said in a statement.

Nigeria’s security forces are stretched thin by challenges in different parts of the country.

Africa’s most populous country faces multiple conflicts — linked to a long-running jihadist insurgency, bandits, farmer-herder violence or southeastern separatists — that have killed both Christians and Muslims.

On Christmas Eve, a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people in an attack on a mosque in northeastern Borno state.

Washington has in recent months criticised the country’s failure to rein in the violence that US President Donald Trump insists amounts to “persecution” of Christians — a framing long used by the religious right in America.

Despite the Nigerian government and independent analysts rejecting the accusations, the US launched its surprise Christmas Day airstrikes on militants linked to the Islamic State group.

Abuja later said it approved the hits.

Tinubu in December vowed a national security revamp and has ramped up defence spending in the 2026 budget. In early December, he replaced his defence minister, naming a former top military commander to the role.