NIGERIA – Several Northern Nigeria bandit attacks in Katsina, Kebbi, and Benue states from Saturday through Sunday have killed at least 50 people, according to local authorities.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, many believe they were carried out by bandits, who have been engaged in criminal activities in northern Nigeria since 2020, often involving violence, robbery, or kidnapping. They have become a major security concern in Nigeria, causing disruptions to communities and livelihoods.
According to residents, 20 bodies were discovered on Sunday in the Gobirawa community in Katsina’s Dutsinma Local Government Area. They were reported to have been killed by bandits late Saturday night.
Multiple eyewitnesses told Anadolu over the phone that the assailants stormed the community on motorcycles and shot civilians.
According to Abdurrahman Abdullahi, chairman of the Katsina State Coalition of Civil Societies and a community leader in Gobirawa, the attack destroyed 15 shops and 20 houses.
“Apart from the 20 bodies we were able to recover and buried on Sunday, and others receiving medical treatments in Dutsinma General Hospital, many residents have been displaced and missing,” Abdullahi told Anadolu.
Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu, a spokesman for the state Police Department, confirmed the attacks to Anadolu but did not provide any additional information. Following the attacks, the state police have yet to issue a statement.
On Sunday, 15 farmers in Kebbi were killed while working on their farms in Waje village, Danko Wasagu Local Government Area.
Aliyu Ahmad Wasagu, one of the farmers who escaped, said the incident occurred on Sunday, when residents thought normalcy had returned to the area.
“The attack came just when we thought normalcy had returned to Danko Wasagu communities,” he told Anadolu.
Hussaini Aliyu Bena, executive chairman of the state’s Danko Wasagu Local Government Area, confirmed the development, saying terrorists killed 15 people and injured three others.
Meanwhile, another 15 people were killed on Sunday evening near Ogwumogbo and Okpo’okpolo in Benue State‘s Agatu Local Government Area. They were mostly traders.
According to Quadri Muniru, a trader who spoke with Anadolu late Sunday evening, the victims were ambushed while returning from the Oweto market.
The attacks have reignited calls for stronger security measures in vulnerable communities. The Nigerian government is under increasing pressure to address the growing insecurity in the region, which has resulted in thousands of deaths and displacements.