Tension in Niger state: Herdsmen kill 400, kidnap many girls

About 400 people have been killed in Niger state

- The killings were orchestrated by herdsmen and bandits

- Several girls have been reportedly kidnapped in the raids by the alleged herdsmen

David Umaru, the senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, has revealed that bandits and cattle rustlers killed 400 people within the region in 2016.

According to Umaru who briefed journalists on the deteriorating security situation in the crises-ridden area, on Wednesday in Minna, the bandits defiled and abducted several women and girls, while thousands of livestock were rustled.

“From statistics obtained from community leaders, property worth millions of naira were also stolen or destroyed by the bandits that were usually heavily armed,” he said.

Umaru, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights, further disclosed that communities bordering Kaduna State were more vulnerable as bandits consistently used the surrounding forest as escape route.

He named communities worst affected by the attacks to include Kaure, Kusasun, Mwaignu, Sabon Gida, Kwaki, Ajata, Kushaka, Bagna, Bassa/Kukoki, Allawa in Shiroro and Rafi local government areas.

NAN reports that the senator urged Governor Abubakar Bello to adopt urgent measures to check the trend and particularly suggested the relocation of the state’s police headquarters to the affected area to “liberate the people”.

Umaru appealed to the state government to promptly implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry currently looking into the remote causes of the clash between soldiers and rural communities in Bosso Local Government Area to rid the area of such perennial violence.

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