Terrorists, locally known as bandits, have abducted 20 people, including four pregnant women and minors, from Palaita, a Niger State village near a military base in Erena, Shiroro Local Government Area.
The village also known as Anguwan Kawo, was attacked around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, according to sources in Erena.
We spoke to three people in Erena and their names have been withheld for security reasons.
“We heard gunshots from the area but we were thinking that it was the military,” one of them said. “The terrorists operated for nearly 50 minutes and the soldiers did not challenge them.”
Appolonia Anele, spokesperson for Nigerian Army, has not responded to an enquiry about this.
The village is near Erena, where the military has a Foward Operating Base (FOB) to prevent such attacks on the garrison town and nearby villages.
“This was not the first time Palaita would be attacked,” said another source. “The village had been attacked three times since 2024.”
Wasiu Abiodun, the spokesperson for Niger Police Command did not respond to calls. An SMS sent to him had not been responded to at press time.
However, he confirmed the attacked to Channels TV, saying another village, Kuchipa, in the area was attacked that same day.
Mr Abiodun said efforts were ongoing to rescue the victims.
Punch reported that the terrorists, that same day, attacked Kakuru village near Erena, chopping off a man’s hand after seizing his phone.
Indegenous sources monitoring violent attacks in the area told this newspaper that the terrorists came through Kwaki-Chukuba axis.
One of the sources suspected that a commander from notorious Dogo Gide’s camp was responsible for the simultaneous attacks.
“Mai Kudi is a commander under Dogo Gide,” he said. “He may be responsible for the attack since the assailants came from their stronghold.”
