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Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has directed security forces to track down the armed group behind coordinated assaults on four villages in a remote area of Niger state, an operation that left dozens dead and may have resulted in hundreds of people being taken captive.
The raids, which took place last Friday, struck the communities of Dekara, Gidan Zana, Sabon Gida and Masaka. Witnesses told the BBC that several mosques came under simultaneous attack during prayer time, with the gunmen said to have been wearing military-style uniforms. A police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, put the death toll at more than 40, though officials cautioned that the precise figure has yet to be verified.
Attention turned to the case again this week when the perpetrators circulated footage on social media purporting to show captives from the raid seated in a forest. A local youth leader, who requested anonymity, said he could pick out numerous neighbours in the clip, among them an elderly man from Gidan Zana whom he described as a grandfather figure to the community. For some families, he noted, the video brought a measure of comfort — proof that their relatives were still alive — while others with missing loved ones remain without any word.
Estimates of how many people were seized vary widely. The same youth leader suggested the number could reach 500, but that tally has not been independently confirmed. No demands for ransom have surfaced so far. Officials had initially attributed the violence to so-called bandits — criminal networks that carry out kidnappings and loot villages for ransom across swathes of Nigeria.
The aftermath has displaced many residents, according to a local blogger familiar with the region, with families fleeing to nearby states or crossing into neighbouring Benin. Some of those wounded in the attacks are being treated in hospital, several with severe injuries.
A local official further disclosed that the attackers laid improvised explosive devices around the communities as they marched their captives toward the forest. One teenage boy was killed when one of the devices went off as he attempted to flee.
In a statement released through presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu denounced the killings and abductions and pledged that the perpetrators would face justice. "Those who carried out this cowardly attack on defenceless Nigerians are enemies of peace and enemies of humanity, who will not go scot-free," the statement read. The president also extended condolences to bereaved families.
The violence underscores deteriorating security in the Borgu area, which borders Kebbi and Kwara states as well as Benin. Earlier this month, police announced the rescue of 145 people kidnapped from four other villages in the same region. Local authorities have also voiced alarm over the expanding footprint of jihadist factions in north-western Nigeria and along the border, reporting that fighters have recently moved into communities and begun enforcing religious restrictions on residents.
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