Gunmen, believed to be bandits, have killed three people on the Bangi-Kotonkoro road in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State.
The attack reportedly took place on Sunday morning around 9:00 am, when the bandits blocked the road and opened fire on passing vehicles.
Alhaji Shehu Kotonkoro, whose car was involved in the incident, told journalists that the victims included his driver, a young girl, and another man named Alhaji Ibrahim, who were all heading to the market.
He stated that the incident happened approximately 5 km from Kotonkoro village.
Shehu expressed concern over the lack of sufficient security in the area and revealed that, after killing the three victims, the bandits also abducted two farmers who were harvesting rice.
He added that students from the community have been advised to return home to avoid becoming victims.
When contacted, the chairman of Mariga Local Government Area, Alhaji Abbas Musa Kasuwa-Garba, confirmed the attack, noting that at least three people were killed.
Kasuwa-Garba expressed sympathy for the victims’ families and attributed the frequent bandit attacks in the area to the council’s shared borders with Zamfara, Kebbi, and Kaduna states.
He explained that the bandits often enter his council through the Birnin Gwari axis in Kaduna State, wreak havoc on communities, and then retreat to their camps outside the state.
