Gunmen killed more than 30 people and abducted an unspecified number of others during an attack on a village market in Nigeria’s northern Niger state on Saturday, according to local authorities.
Niger police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun confirmed the details in a statement on Sunday. He said the assailants targeted the Kasuwan Daji market in Demo village at approximately 4:30 p.m. local time, burning stalls and looting food supplies before fleeing.
“Over 30 victims lost their lives during the attack; some persons were also kidnapped,” Abiodun stated.
The police report indicated the attackers arrived on motorcycles from the direction of the National Park Forest along the Kabe district. An eyewitness who spoke to the Reuters news agency described the scene.
“They drove motorcycles and opened fire indiscriminately,” said Dauda Shakulle, who reported being wounded during the incident. “There has been no presence of security forces since the attacks began. We are currently recovering corpses.”
Armed groups, which are often referred to locally as “bandits,” have carried out numerous attacks in northern Nigeria. These groups frequently use remote forest reserves as bases to launch raids on villages, schools, and travelers.
Niger state has been one of the regions most affected by the violence. In a separate incident in November, armed men abducted hundreds of schoolchildren and staff from a school in the state’s Borgu local government area. According to reports at the time, those captives were released after several weeks.
Nigerian security forces have been engaged in ongoing operations to address the activities of these armed groups in the region.
The security situation in northern Nigeria has previously drawn international commentary. The United States conducted airstrikes in northwest Nigeria on Dec. 25 against fighters linked to ISIS, according to a statement from the U.S. military. Following the strikes, former U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform that the action was taken in response to what he termed targeted killings of Christians in the country. The Nigerian government has publicly disputed this narrative, stating that members of both Muslim and Christian communities have been victims of the violence.
