Bandits strike in Niger again, kidnap 24 residents

Bandits have carried out another brutal assault in Niger State, abducting 24 people — including a pregnant woman — and mutilating a blind resident in separate attacks within the same local government area.

The most recent attack occurred on Wednesday in Palaita community, Erena Local Government Area, where armed men invaded a farmland as labourers were harvesting crops.

According to witnesses, the bandits surrounded the workers and “whisked them away into the bush.” Among those abducted was a woman described as “heavily pregnant.”

In a separate raid within the same LGA, the criminals allegedly cut off the arm of a blind man after he reportedly failed to “cooperate” with their demands.

Residents say the renewed assaults have intensified fear across neighbouring communities, with increasing calls for urgent government action to stem the worsening insecurity in the state.