Motorcycle-riding gunmen swept into three villages in a central region of Nigeria, shooting dead or cutting the throats of at least 46 people, a humanitarian source told AFP on Saturday.
The violence again threw the spotlight on Nigeria’s efforts to contain security threats — efforts that have been strongly criticised by US president Donald Trump.
A security report seen by AFP said the attackers had used “41 motorcycles, each carrying two or three men”.
The three villages targeted by the gunmen are part of the Borgu local government area in Niger State, on the border with Kwara State, where jihadists killed more than 160 people in an attack earlier this month.
The bloodiest attack happened in the village of Konkoso, where at least 38 people were shot dead or had their throats slit, the humanitarian source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Most of the homes in the village were burned down and apart from those already counted as dead, “other bodies are being recovered,” the source said.
A resident of Konkoso told AFP the gunmen had first attacked the nearby village of Tungar Makeri before heading to his village.
A spokesman for Niger State police told AFP that six people had been killed in Tungan Makeri when the gunmen overran the village at around 6:00 am.
– Fears death toll could rise –
“Some houses were set on fire and an as-yet undetermined number of people were abducted,” and officers were seeking information about the attacks on the other two villages, the police spokesman.
The Konkoso resident said his nephew was among those killed in Konkoso.
“They burned a lot of houses and abducted four women,” he said.
“After Konkoso, they went to Pissa, where they set a police station on fire and killed one person.”
“At the moment, many people are missing,” he said.
The border between Kwara and Niger states is home to the Kainji Forest, a known haven for bandits and jihadists.
Nigeria has been grappling with a jihadist insurgency in the northeast for over 16 years.
But it has also had to deal with an ongoing conflict between farmers and herders in the north-central region, separatist violence in the southeast, and kidnappings for ransom in the northwest.
Jihadist groups are also active in the northwest and west-central regions, emboldened by growing insecurity in neighbouring countries Niger and Burkina Faso.
Numerous armed gangs, known locally as “bandits”, are also wreaking havoc — looting villages, killing people and kidnapping residents.
Jihadists killed more than 160 people in an attack on the village of Woro in Kwara State at the beginning of February.
The al-Qaeda affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil, near Woro, last October.
Religious and community leaders from the Borgu area last week called on President Bola Tinubu to establish a military base in the area to put an end to the recurring attacks, Nigerian media reported.
The US military coordinated with Nigerian authorities to carry out airstrikes in Sokoto State on December 25, targeting what Washington said were Islamic State jihadists.
Trump has claimed Christians in Nigeria are being “persecuted” and victims of a “genocide” being perpetrated by “terrorists”.
Abuja and most experts have rejected the claim, saying the violence is indiscriminate, affecting Christians and Muslims alike.
