Spanish
At least thirty people were killed and an undetermined number, including children, were kidnapped in an attack perpetrated by armed bandits in western Nigeria, in Niger State, the Police confirmed this Sunday.
"At least thirty people were killed and several others kidnapped. A joint security team has visited the site and rescue efforts for the victims continue," said Niger Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun in a statement reported by local media.
Attackers stormed Kasuwan Daji, in the Borgu area, on Saturday around 4:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. GMT), where they set fire to the market, looted stores, and stole food.
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Local media reports that the death toll could rise to over forty if several other attacks perpetrated against different towns in both Borgu and Agwarra municipality during the last few days are added. The spokesman for the Catholic Church in the diocese of Kontagora, Father Stephen Kabirat, also confirmed these facts, and put the death toll at more than forty. "Our parish priest narrowly escaped kidnapping when terrorists (as armed gangs are often called in the country) visited our mission house (Catholic) three days ago," he reported. "They destroyed religious objects, stole two motorcycles and took more than 200,000 nairas in cash (about 120 euros)," he added. Some states in Nigeria, especially in the center and northwest of the country, suffer constant attacks by "bandits", a term used to refer to criminal gangs that commit assaults and mass kidnappings for ransom. Adding to this insecurity is that of the jihadist group Boko Haram since 2009 in the northeast of the country and, from 2016, of its splinter group, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP). Both groups seek to impose an Islamic state in Nigeria, a country with a Muslim majority in the north and predominantly Christian in the south. Boko Haram and ISWAP have killed more than 35,000 people - many of them Muslims - and have caused about 2.7 million internally displaced persons, mainly in Nigeria, but also in neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Chad and Niger, according to government and UN data. Last November, US President Donald Trump denounced, without providing evidence, an alleged "massacre" of Christians in Nigeria, announced the designation of the country as "of special concern" (a category reserved for nations involved in "serious violations of religious freedom") and threatened possible military intervention. The Nigerian government then assured that it took note, but stated that these accusations "do not reflect the reality on the ground". The aforementioned intervention ended up occurring on the night of December 25, when the U.S. launched, jointly with Nigeria, air strikes against targets of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in the northwest of the African country.
