At least 50 people were killed and around 60 others abducted when gunmen stormed a mosque and nearby homes in Unguwan Mantau, Malumfashi district of Nigeria’s northwestern Katsina state, during dawn prayers on Tuesday, local officials and residents said.
Witnesses said attackers arrived on motorcycles, opened fire inside the mosque as worshippers gathered for Fajr, then swept through the village, torching houses and seizing residents. Local lawmaker Aminu Ibrahim said 30 people were shot and 20 burned alive in a string of assaults on the community.
Katsina police spokesperson Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu said officers intercepted the assailants and foiled planned attacks on two other villages, but the gunmen opened fire on residents while fleeing through Mantau. Several homes were set ablaze before security forces arrived, he added.
At the Malumfashi general hospital, an official said 27 bodies were registered on Tuesday, while other victims were taken directly for Islamic burial, indicating the death toll could rise. Survivors described harrowing scenes, including women and girls being dragged away.
Northwest Nigeria has faced a surge in raids by criminal gangs known locally as bandits, who target rural communities for ransom kidnappings, highway ambushes and extortion.