One killed, nine abducted as bandits attack Niger community

• The attack which is the fourth in a spate of invasion of the town within a month.

Bandits terrorising Niger State struck again on Tuesday as they attack Garam, a border town between the State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The armed non-state actors abducted nine person and killed one during the attack which is the fourth in a spate of invasion of the town within a month.

A local who witnessed the incident said the attack started around 10:30 pm. on Tuesday night with the bandits moving from house to house to kidnap people.

The eyewitness said: “The bandits started attacking around 10:30 pm. They started burgling shops, especially the shops where those Hausa boys were sleeping. They later entered a house close to ours, forced the gate open, broke the windows and removed the burglary, but none of the occupants slept at home.

“Since the last attack on January 2, most people have stopped sleeping at home. They come in the morning, and leave at night. But after two weeks of relative peace, some people decided to return the same day the bandits strike again.”

It was gathered that the bandits, who were said to be speaking Fulfulde, were shooting sporadically during the operation.

Another resident said, “In the morning, my neighbours who are Fulani interpreted what the bandits said in Fulfulde to me when they came at night. According to them, the bandits said, “we must not allow these animals (kidnapped victims) to escape”.

“One Nupe woman, whose husband is a driver, was kidnapped alongside her two children. But because the woman has chronic ulcer and she had been sick for some time now, she was later abandoned by the bandits on the way. They tied the woman and the two children to the tree. It was herders that saw them in the bush that set them free and also alerted the soldiers who brought them back.”

Another resident who spoke in confidence said while the bandits were wreaking havoc, the soldiers of 102 Battalion, whose duty was to secure the area, despite receiving the distress call as early as 11:00 pm, arrived at 1:45 am.

“They only flashed light and went back without making nay attempt to engage the bandits,” he said.

“The soldiers arrived at 1:45 am, drove around and went back. They came back at 3:45 am and left again when the bandits had successfully kidnapped and left. The residents were just left to face the horror with no help from the military.”