In Kogi State, bandits have taken a woman and her two children hostage and are demanding millions of naira from farming communities in Niger State as a condition for peace.
Around 2 a.m. yesterday, bandits broke into the home of Tokpe Gody in Bareke-Egbe, Kogi State, and took his wife and two children after a lot of gunshots. Gody, a farmer, almost got abducted, but he was shot in the process.
People in the area say that his situation is critical right now, and he is getting care at Egbe hospital.
“Tokpe Gody barely got away from the bandits who attacked his home around 2 a.m. today, Friday.” But the invading bandits weren’t so lucky; they took his wife and two of his kids by force to their refuge in the neighborhood.
“He got shot in the body and legs while trying to get away from his attackers. As of this morning, his health is not stable. Samuel Adeyemi, who lives in Egbe, said, “He is just a regular farmer who is having a hard time keeping his family afloat in the face of Nigeria’s many problems.”
The kidnapping happened just one day after a commercial motorcyclist was slain in Ejiba, a nearby town, when he rode into a bandit ambush on his route to Isanlu.
In Niger State, on the other hand, bandits have imposed taxes and levies on many towns in the Mashegu Local Government Area. They are demanding payments of between N500,000 and N10 million within one or two weeks in order to stop fighting.
Residents said that Babban Rami and Kaboji communities had to pay N2 million apiece, Sabon Rijiya and Sabon Rami had to pay N500,000 each, while villages around Keji forest had to pay N10 million together. The Khizi village had to pay N6 million in taxes by Friday, October 3, 2025.
A peasant told our reporter that they can’t harvest their crops because of ongoing attacks.
“There have been a lot of murders and violent attacks on the communities. And now, the bandits have made the villages around the Ibbi and Kanji National Park forest pay levies.
“We are asking the authorities to act quickly to fix this problem because most of the people in these areas are farmers and more than 90% of what we planted has not yet been harvested.” The issue goes beyond the local government. He remarked, “The state and federal governments need to come as soon as possible.”
Another source said that numerous farmers had been killed or kidnapped on their farms, travelers had been attacked on highways, and villages had been burned down during attacks.
The police in both Kogi and Niger states have not yet responded to the most recent events.
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