From John Adams, Minna
Hell was let lose across communities in Niger State on Tuesday when over 100 bandits raided no fewer than three communities in Munyal Local Government Area of the state, killing scores of villagers and rustled over 200 cattle in the process.
The communities invaded in the latest onslaught by the bandits include:Zagzaga, Chibani and kuchi, all in Munya LGA.
Unspecified number of villagers, including women were killed in the attacks as the gunmen move from one community to another without any resistance.
According to the villagers , houses were burnt and foodstuff looted by the gunmen,who operated between the hours of 4: 00 pm and 7:00 pm as some of the villagers fled their homes.
According to our source, one of the bandits died in Kuch and nobody could ascertain the cause of his death. The body was abandoned by his gang members and was still lying in the bush as at the time of filing this report.
A camp belonging to the Joint Security Taskforce was set ablaze in Kuchi community by the rampaging gunmen.
The members of the taskforce were said to have abandoned the camp and took to their heels when they were informed about the intimidating t number of the bandits.
Our source stated further that the bandits had earlier assembled at Kusasu community in Shiroro LGA, border community with Munya LGA before the attack and a top government official was said to have been informed of their movement.
“We raised the alarm through one of our contacts in Minna, to help us inform the authority of the movement of the bandits, but nothing was done. The villagers saw them moving and assembled in Kusasu before the attack.
“They were there in the bush for over 5 hours before carrying out the attacks. The people saw them, but they were many in number and were riding on motorcycles”, our source said.
All attempts to get the Chairman of Munya LGA , Aminu Najume to confirm the attack proved abortive as all his mobile phones were switched off.
However, Commissioner for Home Land Security, Maj-General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (rtd), said he was yet to get the report concerning the attack, but admitted that there was incidents of bandits attacks in the areas.
Meanwhile,Special Adviser to the Governor on Communication, Media and Strategy, Jonathan Vatsa,condemned the attack, describing it as barbaric, wicked and inhuman.
He expressed regret that despite the efforts of the government towards addressing the challenge of insecurity in parts of the state, “these enemies of the people have continued to carry out relentless attacks on innocent villagers”.
Vatsa assured that the government would not relent until the war against all forms of security challenges are addressed to pave way for a meaningful development, stressing that activities of local informants have frustrated all efforts of the government to bringing the situation under control.