Fresh Tension as Bandits Attack Niger Village; Number of Deaths Revealed

Bandits launched an attack on Damala village in the Woko district of the Borgu Local Government Area in Niger State, resulting in the deaths of at least four individuals.

This incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday, January 10, and follows a tragic event from the previous week where gunmen killed 42 residents across several communities, including the Kasuwan Daji market in Demo village, within Borgu and neighboring Agwara LGAs.

The Niger State Police Command has confirmed the details of this latest attack to Channels Television.

According to a statement from the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, the assailants not only killed four residents but also rustled an unspecified number of cattle during the assault.

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

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.

Multiple security threats
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.