The death toll from Thursday’s attack on Madaka, a community in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, has risen to 66, residents said.
Residents said the local vigilantes found many bodies in the forest after the armed bandits withdrew from the community.
News agencies reported that 21 people were killed after the well-armed bandits entered the village shooting sporadically before embarking on an orgy of killings, arson, and abduction.
The district head of the area, Isah Bawale, also told our reporter that properties worth millions of naira were destroyed by the marauding terrorists.
The state’s Commissioner for Security, Bello Mohammed, a retired army general, confirmed the incident and said the government was working to protect farming communities in the state.
Officials in the North-central state remained uncertain about the casualty figures days after the carnage.
Residents, however, said some of the injured people taken to an hospital in Kagara, the headquarters of Rafi LGA, died, while more bodies were found in the bush.
The attack is the deadliest in several years since bandits began operating in the area, a source said, asking for confidentiality for security reasons.