A church building and a police station in Agwara Local Government Area were set on fire, five people were kidnapped, and one person was killed by gunmen suspected of being bandits in Niger State. 

The United Missionary Church of Africa in Agwara was set on fire as a result of the attack, and the local police station was also set on fire. 

The suspected bandits burned the church ablaze at about 6 a.m. before continuing to Sokonba, a nearby village that shares a border with Kabe, which was recently attacked. The robbers reportedly plundered foodstuffs and other goods before murdering an old woman in Kabe town and abducting five residents.

Speaking on Sunday morning, the son of the late Emir, Murtala Dantoro, said the repeated attacks had turned the once-peaceful towns into zones of terror and uncertainty.

He said, “Innocent lives are being lost, farmers are abandoning their farmlands, economic activities have collapsed, and families are forced to flee their homes in search of safety.

“These attacks are not isolated incidents; they are persistent and escalating. The absence of a permanent and well-equipped military formation in Agwara has left the people vulnerable and exposed.

“The state and federal governments must come to our aid urgently before these suspected bandits chase us out of our homeland.”

The humanitarian and economic conditions in the region have gotten worse, according to Dantoro, because of the security void left by the absence of a military presence, which has given criminals more confidence to operate with little to no opposition.

Source