Bandits storm wedding ceremony, kill 8, injuries many in Niger

Unknown gunmen suspected to be armed bandits numbering well over 100 on Saturday invaded some communities in Lavun local government area of Niger State, killing eight people and injuring several others.

The attack which lasted all through the night till Sunday morning saw the gunmen rustle unspecified numbers of cattle.

Amongst the communities that were ransacked by the gunmen includes Egbako, Ndaruka, Ebbo, Ndagbegi, Tshogi, Gogata and Ndakogitu, according to a source close to one of the communities.

The gunmen were said to have killed one person each at Ebbo, Tsonfadagabi, Tsogi and Kanko, while at Gbacitagi village the gunmen invaded a wedding ceremony, abducted both the bride and the groom including one other girl, just as they also destroyed vehicles and other properties estimated at several millions of naira.

All the monies realized at the wedding ceremony including other valuables were also snatched by the gunmen.

While on their way out of the communities and heading towards Akare community via Zungeru in Wushishi local government area of the state with their rustled cattle, the gunmen got stuck at Akere when they discovered that the only bridge linking the community with Akare had collapsed.

According to another source on their way to Akare community, the gunmen were allegedly stranded at Akere at the point of crossing with the rustled livestock as the domestic animals refused to enter the river with the bandits to cross.

Further checks revealed that they eventually abandoned the rustled livestock at the Akere river when all attempts to cross the river with the animals were not successful.

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They retreated to Sheshi community to find possible routes out of the community where they were confronted by the locals. The resultant exchange of firepower between the gunmen and the local vigilantes led to the killing of six persons including two vigilantes and four locals.

The gunmen, according to the locals, later shared themselves into three groups with one group at Dabban community, another group at Shegba, while the third group was said to have headed towards Ndaruka.

The attack however forced the villagers in the affected communities to flee their homes, while those who had earlier gone into the nearby market at Batati could not return for fear of being attacked by the fleeing gunmen.

When our reporter contacted the State Commissioner for local government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Internal Security, Hon. Emmanuel Umar, who confirmed the latest attacks, however, said he was yet to get the details of the incident.

In another development, some gunmen suspected to be armed bandits were said to have arrived at Bida township in Bida Local Government Council of the state at about 2:00 pm- 4:00 pm on Sunday, a development that sent fears into the city and its environs.

As of the time of filing this report on Sunday, the armed men were said to have entered inside the city up till somewhere in Ilorin Motor Park in the interior of Bida the traditional headquarters of Nupe Land in Nigeria.

Insider sources in Bida told this reporter that the Sagi of Bida said to be a very powerful traditional title holder in the city was said to have assured residents and visitors alike of the ability to personally deal with the bandits in a traditional way by disarming them.

The sources who pleaded for anonymity added that the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, was said to have been visibly angered by the effrontery of the bandits to come into Bida to cause mayhem and a breach to public peace in his domains which is noted for being very peaceful and accommodating to visitors and strangers alike.

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