Gunmen kill three in Niger State

Gunmen on Sunday stormed Madaka village in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, killing at least three people.

The Chief of Staff to the LG Chairman, Mohammed Mohammed, confirmed this to Channels Television via a telephone conversation.

Those killed are a leader of the vigilante group in Madaka, Isyaku Alhassan, his son Abdulhamid Isyaku and one other person whose name is yet to be ascertained as at the time of filing this report.

Also the village Head of Madaka, Alhaji Zakari Ya’u was said to have been abducted a second time. He only released recently after being held hostage for over three months in the hands of the bandits.

Mohammed said that the report he got indicated that the bandits who were camping in a village closer to Madaka, attacked the community today at about 11:00 am.

He said the attack lasted till 2:00 pm when the bandits decided to leave.

A resident of Madaka and Secretary of the Road Transport Workers Union in Madaka, Nasiru Paki, said the bandits also injured scores of other residents.

He said the attackers also set many houses in the village on fire,

Also, the Secretary to Rafi local government Council who is a traditional title holder in Madaka, Bala Madaki said corpses of those killed were yet to be retrieved for burial as the bandits were still patrolling around the community.

Efforts to get the Police to confirm the report proved abortive as the Police Public would not pick his calls or respond to messages sent to him.

At least, fifty persons have been killed since the renewed banditry attacks on communities in Niger State.

In Rafi LG alone, over ten persons have been killed in the last one week, with about 33 persons abducted.

Thousands of residents have also fled their homes, with many taking shelter in temporary camps provided by the state government.

Just six days ago, gunmen attacked Ogu and Tegina communities and abducted at least 19 people in Rafi local council.

Although Channels Television made efforts to reach the police authorities to confirm the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in Niger, Wasiu Abiodun, did not pick his calls or respond to messages sent to him.

But the Chief of Staff to Rafi LGA Chairman, Mohammed Mohammed, confirmed the incident to Channels Television

He, however, had to place telephone calls to some residents of the affected communities for more information.

A resident of Ogu, Kamal Wayam, decried that the attackers stormed the community on Sunday morning and started shooting into the air.

“The gunmen in their large number arrived in Ogu on motorcycles and before we knew what was happening, they started shooting into the air.

“They ransacked people’s houses and whatever valuable they could lay their hands on, they carted away,” Wayam said during his conversation with Mohammed. (Channels TV)