Terror attacks on Magero, Sunko and Marafa villages in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State on Wednesday evening resulted in the death of four persons and injuries on many others, residents said.
However, the police denied knowledge of the attacks in spite of local sources insisting they happened.
Some residents said hundreds of heavily armed men came on motorcycles to launch the onslaught on the villages about 3:30 p.m.
Murtala, a resident of Gavya near Sunko, said, “they stormed Sunko and Marafa communities around 4 p.m., gunned down four villagers, including one of my friends and one woman.
“They also shot another person on his hand and leg, they are currently in the hospital receiving treatment.
“We have been in this fear for years, they are frequently sending us threat messages that we should not go near our farmlands.
“We have reported them several times to security agencies but no positive response, see what they have done to our people, we are definitely leaving this community because we are not safe too.”
But the Niger State Police Command`s Public Relations Officer, ASP Wasiu Abiodun, denied the report, saying there was no attack on the communities.
However, Yusuf, the Desk Officer of the Internally Displaced Persons Camp in the local government, said “we received the information around 9 p.m. but we couldn’t reach out to them. The communities are hotspots of the bandits and are in the remote areas of the local government area.
“Early in the morning, we sent vigilantes to ascertain the situation, we are still waiting for our team to report back to us but we only heard that scores were killed, many sustained injuries and they carted away several food items.”
The Convener of Concerned Shiroro Youth, Sani Abubakar Yusuf Kokoki, confirmed the attack.
He said “ during their attacks, no fewer than four people were killed, including one woman who was fleeing to a nearby island for the fear of her dear life.
“Apart from the human losses incurred, the group rustled an undisclosed number of cattle and destroyed unquantifiable valuables.”
He added, “ these villages no longer have security presence and continually live in fear daily.”
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