Bandits and Gunmen Resume Attacks in Multiple Nigerian States

Bandits and gunmen resumed their criminal activities yesterday after a lull during the general elections and cash crunch that hit Nigeria, unleashing mayhem in at least five states, including Niger, Kaduna, Kogi, Adamawa, and Bayelsa.

The attackers killed scores of people and kidnapped no fewer than 34 people, including two police officers, while also carting away arms and ammunition.

In Niger, the bandits killed two villagers, abducted two policemen, and kidnapped no fewer than 32 villagers, who were taken into the Ibbi forest. Local vigilantes from Mokwa and New Bussa engaged the bandits in a gun battle that lasted for hours, resulting in the death of the vigilante commander and some of the bandits. The Chairman of Mashegu LGA, Alhaji Umar Igede, decried the incessant attacks on the local government in the past two months and called on the government to come to their rescue.

In Kogi, gunmen stormed the Oganenugu community in Dekina LGA and killed scores of villagers, including the ward chairman of All Progressive Congress, Mr. James Adah. Governor Yahaya Bello called for calm over the attacks and promised that his administration would continue to phase out crisis entrepreneurs from the state and bring those involved to book under the law.

In Bayelsa, suspected assassins reportedly killed a construction worker and dumped his corpse along Gloryland Drive on the outskirts of Yenagoa, the state capital. In Kaduna, a 24-hour curfew was imposed by the state government on Sabon Garin Nasarawa-Tirkaniya area of Chikun LGA to restore order in the area following clashes among local armed gangs that claimed two lives. The government banned social activities in the area and directed the arrest of anyone linked with the peddling of hard drugs.

Finally, gunmen attacked Dabna community in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State, killing three people and destroying properties worth millions of naira. Adamawa State Commissioner of Police, CP Afolabi Babatola, ordered the deployment of operational assets for the immediate arrest of the culprits and assured the restoration of peace to the troubled community.