Niger: Bandits attack Pandogari community, kill four, abduct others

Pandogari Community in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State was on Sunday interrupted by sporadic gunshots by gunmen suspected to be bandits who laid siege on the community, killing four persons and abducting an unspecified number of others.

A resident of the area, Mallam Alfa Ibrahim, who spoke to the Newsmen in an interview, said the suspected bandits attacked the community through Hayin Makera, the highway leading to Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna state.

He said the bandits, riding on several motorcycles, each carrying two or three persons wielding dangerous weapons, invaded the community, shooting sporadically into the air.

The source said in the ensuing milieu, the vigilantes confronted the hoodlums, and as a result of the superior firepower of the bandits, they gunned down three of the vigilante members and also shot one of the sick kidnapped victims who were unable to move at their pace.

“Since 5pm, we got information about the impending attack. The community has four entrance routes and only one is manned by a military detachment. The terrorists avoided that route and came through one of the routes and were confronted by the vigilantes,” Mallam. Alfa Ibrahim narrated.

He said the community informed the military personnel stationed there. Still, they didn’t respond, adding that the community came under attack around 2 p.m. on the fateful Sunday, which left the commander of the vigilante dead and two of his comrades.

According to our source, he said, “People are deserting the community in droves going into Pandogari town. We had earlier requested that a military post be mounted on one of the main roads, but our plea fell on deaf ears.”

Several calls to the chairman of the Rafi local government area, Ayuba Usman Katako, to get his reaction to the situation were not answered.

However, the commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Ahmed Suleiman Yumu, confirmed the incident and said contacts would be made to assess the humanitarian interventions needed.

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