Deadly attack in Nigerian village leaves dozens killed

(MENAFN) At least 30 people were killed when armed assailants attacked the village of Kasuwan-Daji in Nigeria’s Niger state on Saturday, officials said. The attackers, reportedly emerging from nearby forests on motorcycles, set the local market ablaze, looted shops, and kidnapped an unknown number of residents.

Eyewitnesses described a brutal assault in which villagers were rounded up and shot, while others were killed indiscriminately. “They are hiding, they are too afraid to talk to anybody.

They are scared that if you talk, they will turn and do the same to you,” said a local official.

Police have dispatched emergency teams to tend to the injured and are working to recover those taken, though security forces were reportedly absent during the attack. Government rules prohibit ransom payments, though reports suggest this is often ignored.

The raid comes shortly after schools in Niger state began reopening following the mass abduction of over 250 students and staff from St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri in November, an incident that ended with the safe release of all the hostages before Christmas. Villagers say fear of repeated attacks is driving many from their homes and leaving them feeling abandoned by authorities.

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