ABUJA: At least 15 people have been killed after gunmen attacked three communities in north-central Nigeria, Amnesty International said.
The simultaneous attacks occurred in Tashan Maje, Saduro, and Runtuwa villages located in the Borgu area of Niger state, the rights group said in a statement posted on X.
“The gunmen invaded the villages ... on dozens of motorcycles shooting in all directions. They also ransacked shops,” Amnesty said.
The “horrific attack” is yet another indication that “people are constantly living on the edge and feeling helpless,” the statement said.
FASTFACT
The simultaneous attacks occurred in Tashan Maje, Saduro, and Runtuwa villages located in the Borgu area of Niger state, the rights group said.
Northern Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis featuring both militants operating in the northeast and armed criminal gangs kidnapping people for ransom who have wrecked havoc in the northwest and north-central regions.
Africa’s most populous country has been a focus of Washington after US President Donald Trump said that the country wasn’t protecting Christians from an alleged genocide. The Nigerian government rejected the accusation, and analysts say that it simplifies a very complicated situation in which people are often targeted regardless of their faith.
In December, US forces launched airstrikes on Daesh-affiliated militants in northwestern Nigeria. Last month, Nigerian authorities said that the US is sending troops to help train the West African nation’s military in fighting extremism.
Last week, the police in Nigeria said that 38 people were killed and others were abducted in an attack in the northwestern state of Zamfara.
On Sunday, the Nigerian military said that it has “recorded decisive operational successes” against militants.
Twenty suspects were arrested and a significant cache of weapons, ammunition, logistics supplies, stolen crude oil, illicit drugs and rustled livestock were recovered in what the army described as “a relentless push to degrade terrorist networks and criminal syndicates nationwide,” the military said in a statement.
