Residents flee to neighbouring communities as gunmen attack Niger villages

Residents of some communities in Niger state have fled to neighbouring areas following attacks by gunmen.

TheCable understands that some communities in Munya LGA of Niger state have been deserted by residents.

Gunmen were said to have invaded communities in the area, forcing residents to scamper for safety.

Some residents were also reportedly kidnapped, while vigilantes in the area who attempted to confront the bandits were said to have been overpowered.

According to Lawal Ibrahim, a resident of Sarkin Pawa, there was an attack on Sabon Kabula village on Saturday evening.

Ibrahim also listed Injita, Zypabe, Unguwan Magaji, Kulgbaku, Lukodna, Kakuru, Abuza, Kudam, Dnakogbe, Kubaidnapa as some of the areas that have been deserted.

Chiri ward in Shiroro LGA was also reportedly attacked by bandits, forcing residents to abandon the area.

There has been a series of attacks on communities in Niger state, following the withdrawal of security operatives from Allawa, Bassa, and Zagzaga after bandits killed some soldiers and burnt their operational vehicles.

However, Abubakar Bello, in a statement on April 2, had assured residents of the affected communities that security operatives withdrew to re-strategise.

“The military has evacuated the corpses of gallant officers who died in the faceoff with the bandits, and have retreated for a while to re-strategise. They have not left ot abandoned the communities,” Bello had said.

Efforts to reach the police in Niger state were unsuccessful at the time of this report.