Armed gangs killed over 30 people and kidnapped others in a Nigerian village, near where hundreds of students were abducted last year.
KASUWAN DAJI: Armed gangs killed more than 30 people and kidnapped others in a raid in Nigeria’s Niger state.
Police said the gangs swept into Kasuwan Daji village on Saturday, setting a market ablaze and looting shops for food.
“Over 30 victims lost their lives during the attack, some persons were also kidnapped,” Niger state police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said.
President Bola Tinubu’s office suggested the attackers may have been terrorists fleeing US airstrikes on Christmas Day.
Tinubu vowed the attackers “will be caught and brought to justice” in a statement relayed by his media adviser.
Images viewed by AFP showed some of those killed had their hands tied behind their backs.
The area has been repeatedly targeted by gangs known locally as “bandits” who carry out mass kidnappings for ransom.
This latest attack occurred less than 20 kilometres from where armed gangs seized over 250 students and staff from a Catholic school in November.
The local Catholic church put the death toll from Saturday’s raid at more than 40, higher than the police figure.
“Reports indicate the bandits operated for hours with no security presence,” the Catholic Church in Kontagora said.
Information Minister Mohammed Idris said the victims “were traders, farmers, parents, schoolchildren from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds.”
Nigeria’s security forces are stretched thin by multiple conflicts across the country.
These include a jihadist insurgency, banditry, farmer-herder violence, and separatist unrest.
In December, Tinubu vowed a national security revamp and has ramped up defence spending in the 2026 budget.
