From Naseer Al-sirajdeen Minna
Gunmen believed to be armed bandits have attacked Gidigori community in Rafi Local government area of Niger State, killing five persons
The gunmen equally abducted dozens of women and children just as they set houses ablaze and rustled dozens of cattle.
The armed men were said to have invaded the community in the early hours of Wednesday, ridding on more than 25 motorcycles with each carrying 3 members.
“It was reliably gathered that the gun men who were heavily armed with sophisticated weapons such as machine guns, Ak47 and hand grenades launched an offensive attack on the locals killing five persons among them were two pregnant women and three aged men.
It was gathered that the armed bandits had laid siege on the community in the last three days as some strange movement were noticed within the neighboring communities of Madaka and Kusheriki before their attack on the community
The bandits, it was further gathered launched another offensive on the Pandogari Birni gwari Kaduna road where they held motorists hostage for three hours unchallenged at the end of which they abducted over 35 passengers traveling to Gusau in Zamfara state.
Similarly, the suspected armed men were said to have wrecked another havoc on Gyaramiya Allawa road in Shiroro local government area before they were swiftly repelled by the joint efforts of the men of the state vigilante corps and the local hunters in the area.
About 86 rustled cattle were reportedly recovered from the armed men by the men of the state vigilante corps and the community hunters.
The renewed activities of armed bandits along Minna Pandogari Birni gwari road took security agencies, and motorists by surprise as their activities had relaxed in the last six months without any reported case of armed bandits attacks.
Some parts of Niger State have been under heavy attacks by armed bandits which has almost crippled farm activities in the last three years..
Two senatorial districts of the state have suffered unprecedented activities of armed bandits in the last three years which have prompted the locals within the affected senatorial districts to take refuge at the internally displaced persons camp (IDP) in Gwada and Minna the state capital.
The areas that suffered the casualties of the armed bandits include Paikoro, Rafi, Shiroro, and Munya local government areas of the Eastern senatorial district of the state.
Another area that suffered from the attack, ,include Kontagora Mariga, Magama, Mashegu,Rijau and Wushishi local government of the Northern senatorial districts of Niger State.
Already, an onslaught has been launched by the joint team of the state vigilante corps and other security agencies to trail the gun men with the aim to rescuing the abducted victims and the travelers.
The state commissioner of police in Niger State Mr. Monday Bala Kuryas could not be reach for comments as series of visit and phone calls could not yielded any result.
However, the commandant Niger State Vigilante Corps (NSVC) Yarima Nasir Manta confirmed the report in a telephone interview saying that his men and the local hunters have launched an offensive manhunt for the criminals to rescue the abducted victims “and possibly apprehend them.”
