Gidigori community in Rafi Local government area of Niger State, came under heavy attacks by some gun men believed to be armed bandits killing five persons on the spot.
The gunmen equally abducted dozens of women and children just as they set houses ablaze, rustled dozens of animals.
The armed men were said to have invaded the community in the early hours of Wednesday, on over 25 motorcycles with each carrying 3 passengers. It was reliably gathered that the gun men who were heavily armed with sophisticated weapons such as machine guns, Ak47 and hand grenades launched their offensive attacks on the locals, killing five persons among them two pregnant women and three aged men.
It was gathered that the armed bandits had laid heavy siege on the community in the last three days as some strange movement were noticed within the neighbourig communities of Madaka and Kusheriki before their attacks on the locals.
The bandits, it was further gathered launched another offensive havock on the Pandogari Birni Gwari Kaduna road where they held motorists hostages for three hours unchallenged and at the end of their operations, they abducted over 35 passengers traveling to Gusau in Zamfara state.
Similarly, it was further gathered that the suspected armed men were said to have wreck another havock on Gyaramiya Allawa road in Shiroro Local Government area before they were swiftly repelled by the joint efforts of the men of state vigilante corps and the local hunters in the area.
A total of 86 rustled animals were said to have been 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 roads took security agencies, and motorists by surprise as their activities was relaxed in the last six months without any reported case of armed bandits attacks.
Some parts of Niger State came under heavy attacks of armed bandits that has almost crippled farming activities in the last three years.
CAPITAL POST recalled that two Senatorial districts Niger State have been under consistent attack by bandits for the past three years.
The attack has displaced locals who are taking refuge at Internally Displaced Persons Camp (IDP) in Gwada and Minna the state capital.
Among the area that suffered the casualties of the armed bandits include Paikoro, Rafi, Shiroro, and Munya Local Government Areas of the Eastern Senatorial district.
CAPITAL POST also reported that other areas that suffered the monumental attacks of the gun men, include Kontagora Mariga, Magama, Mashegu, Rijau and Wushishi Local Government of the Northern Senatorial districts of Niger State.
Already, a total 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 reached for comment as series of visit and phone calls couldn’t yield the needed response.
However, the Commandant of Niger State Vigilante Corps (NSVC), Yarima Nasir Manta who confirmed the report in a telephone interview said that his men and the local hunters have launched an offensive manhunt on the criminals to rescue the abducted victims “and possibly effect their arrest.”
