Gunmen attack Niger mosque during prayers, kill 18 worshippers, abduct 7

Gunmen attack Niger mosque during prayers, kill 18 worshippers, abduct 7

Gunmen have killed an unspecified number of people while observing early morning prayers at a mosque at Mazakuka village in Mashegu Local Government Area of the state on Monday, the police in Niger State said.

However, the Daily Trust newspaper put the number of dead people at 18.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Monday Kuryas, who disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Monday, said the hoodlums also abducted seven other worshippers at the mosque.

Kuryas said the incident occurred on October 25 at about 0530 hours when the gunmen attacked the village.

He said the gunmen later destroyed property worth millions of Naira belonging to one Alhaji Abubakar Maigandus in the village.

He said security personnel, however, shot dead one of the bandits.

The commissioner said that the incident was understood to be a reprisal attack resulting from a long-standing communal feud.

He said that already additional armed security personnel had since been deployed to the area to ensure the arrest of the gunmen and all other miscreants undermining the peaceful coexistence among residents.

He urged the residents, especially those in the rural areas of the state, to come forward with reliable information that could aid the personnel deployed across the state to ensure the arrest and prosecution of all those involved in criminal acts.

“We are battle-ready to confront any form of criminal elements as long as good residents will volunteer credible information on movement of dubious characters in their midst,” Kuryas said.

The Informant247 Newspaper