Some gunmen, who were suspected to be bandits, have gone rampage, killing a vigilante and kidnapping six girls in Pandogari, a community in Rafi Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State.
The attack occurred on Wednesday night, with the assailants believed to have arrived in large numbers storming the community through the Birnin Gwari axis.
They reportedly passed through the Mamman Kontagora Technical College before abducting the girls, aged between 15 and 17, and taking them to Kwangel Forest, a known criminal hideout.
Confirming the incident, the Chairman of Rafi LGA, Ayuba Usman Katako, stated that the community has suffered repeated attacks in recent weeks.
He noted that while previous incidents primarily involved kidnappings, Wednesday’s attack was particularly tragic as a vigilante lost his life.
“It is true that bandits attacked Pandogari community. In fact, that was not the only attack in the last two weeks. The Wednesday attack was the third one. In the previous attacks, they only succeeded in kidnapping some people, but on Wednesday, a life was lost before they kidnapped eight people. Fortunately, four of them escaped,” Katako said during a Hausa radio programme on Prestige FM.
The member representing Rafi Constituency in the Niger State House of Assembly, Zubairu Isma’ila Zannan Kwangoma, expressed concern over the worsening security situation in the area.
While raising a motion of urgent public importance, he revealed that 122 people had been kidnapped and two others killed in Rafi LGA over the past month.
He identified the most affected communities as Pandogari, Gidigori, Ringa, and Kawo, stressing that the frequent attacks have led to severe economic hardship, disrupted farming activities, and displaced many residents.
Zannan Kwangoma called for urgent collaboration between the Niger and Kaduna state governments to tackle the escalating insecurity and protect vulnerable communities.
