Gunmen, numbering about 100 on Thursday night, stormed the Kuchi community in the Munya local government area of Niger State and abducted about 50 people after killing five of the villagers.
The gunmen who invaded the community at about 1:00am went from one house to another, waking up their victims, who include women and children, before leading them into the bush through cattle routes.
This latest attack is coming barely five days after some gunmen attempted to invade a military camp in Sarkin Pawa, the headquarters of the local government, but were repelled by the soldiers, killing scores of them in that midnight attack.
According to a source close to Sarkin Pawa, the gunmen and their victims are currently stranded at Kuchi riverbank, as the water is said to have risen to a level they could not cross due to the heavy downpour through the night.
The gunmen, it was gathered, successfully crossed the river to the community, but after their operation, which lasted all through the night and in the rain, they returned only to find the water level unbearable to cross.
“As I speak to you, they are now stranded at the river because they couldn’t cross. The water level has risen so high that they could not cross, so right now they are waiting for it to reduce before they can move with their victims,” our source said
Our source further hinted that security agents have been mobilised to the area to rescue the victims but added that “the security people, including local vigilantes, are being careful to avoid being ambushed by the gunmen in their usual way”.
It could be recalled that Kuchi, a railway town in Munya local government, remained one of the most tormented communities in the area by gunmen, forcing the people to relocate.
The plight of this predominant farming community was, however, compounded when security agents code-named special hunters withdrew their services after an attack on their camp in Galkogo, Shiroro local government area of the state, killing eight of them and seven local vigilantes.
Additionally, the local vigilantes, who had been providing some services in the community, equally withdrew their services, citing a lack of payment for their allowances by either the local government or the state government, leaving the people vulnerable to attack.
They, however, returned to the community at the start of the rainy season, about three months ago, to embark on their farming activities, surrendering their fate to God.
Meanwhile, there is no statement from either the state government or the state police command on the latest attack as of the time of filing this report.
