Bandits have killed at least 220 people and abducted over 200 others in 50 attacks across 300 communities in Niger State in January 2022 alone.
Niger State Governor Sani Bello disclosed this on Tuesday in an interview with journalists after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.
He said, “In January this year alone, we suffered not less than 50 reported attacks and loss of lives, between 1st and 17th January. Within the same period, not less than 300 communities have been invaded by bandits.
“The number of people kidnapped is 200, including three Chinese nationals. We also lost some security personnel. Their number is 25. Unfortunately, we lost about 165 civilians and 30 local vigilantes. So, it’s a very dire situation that we have been battling in the last few weeks since the beginning of this year,” Mr Bello said.
“What I realize is that they have been taking us on a merry-go-round. When we deal with them in Niger, they move to Kaduna. When Kaduna deals with them, they move to Katsina. They have been hibernating in the forest. Some of these operations need to be handled simultaneously so that we get the result.
“We are not happy and we are sad with the developments in these states. We are doing whatever we can, using kinetic and non-kinetic efforts to see that we address the present situation. As we go on, we will try to update you from time to time on progress being made in this fight.”
