Armed men have violently stormed a village in Nigeria's Niger state, killing at least 30 people and looting shops, state authorities have said.
The attackers emerged from a forest near the village of Kasuwan-Daji on Saturday and set fire to the local market, looted goods, and kidnapped an unspecified number of people, according to police reports.
The gunmen entered the town on motorcycles carrying weapons, rounded up people and then proceeded to slaughter them while others were shot dead, a local journalist described to the BBC's Hausa service.
Attacks and kidnappings by armed criminal groups, popularly referred to as bandits, have plagued Nigeria for years, but incidents in western and central regions have escalated recently.
Abdullahi Rofia, an official from the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the eyewitness accounts of the brutality, detailing how community members are now living in fear: They are hiding, they are too afraid to talk to anybody. Rofia emphasized the community's paralyzing fear of further violence.
Niger state police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, reported the deployment of an emergency team to aid the injured while security forces attempt to rescue those kidnapped.
The government has classified these criminal acts as terrorism, making it illegal to pay ransoms, although this law is often disregarded due to the urgency of circumstances.
As reports of violence spread, community members expressed desperation for government intervention, lamenting the loss of security in their villages.
The assault occurred just a day after authorities announced the phased reopening of schools, which had been closed following a mass kidnapping event in the region. In November, over 250 students and staff were abducted from St Mary's Catholic school in Papiri, one of the worst kidnapping incidents in Nigeria. Fortunately, all of the abducted individuals were rescued before Christmas.
