Gunmen riding motorcycles killed at least 29 people in coordinated dawn attacks on three villages in north-western Nigeria over the week-end, with officials warning the toll could rise.
The assaults targeted Tunga-Makeri before spreading to nearby Konkoso and Pissa in Niger State. According to Musa Saidu, head of the State Emergency Management Agency, the attackers shot residents, torched homes and abducted an unknown number of people. The raids occurred near the site of an earlier massacre this month in which more than 100 people were killed in a similar ambush.
Police confirmed six fatalities in one village and 20 in the attacks on Konkoso and Pissa, while emergency officials reported at least 29 confirmed deaths overall. A security report cited by AFP indicated that about 41 motorcycles were used, each carrying two or three armed men. The number of abductees
remains unclear, as many residents fled into surrounding bushland or neighbouring communities.
Displaced families have sought refuge in nearby Agwara, itself attacked two weeks ago, with résidents describing widespread trauma and fear. Authorities have imposed emergency restrictions, including limits on late-night gatherings and a partial curfew banning motorcycle taxis after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT). Security personnel have been deployed and rescue efforts are under way.
Nigeria continues to grapple with violence by armed criminal gangs, commonly referred to as bandits, alongside jihadist insurgencies in the north-west and
separatist unrest in the south-east, intensifying pressure on national leaders to restore stability.