Gunmen on motorbikes killed at least 18 people at a mosque in Niger state in northern Nigeria, two residents told Reuters on Monday.
The attackers arrived in the Maza-Kuka community of Mashegu local government area at roughly 5 a.m., the residents said.
“They came and went straight to the mosque and shot at worshippers without sparing anyone,” resident Abdulganiyu Hassan told Reuters.
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Hassan said they abducted more than 10 others. Bello Ayuba, another resident and witness, said at least 20 were wounded.
A Niger state police spokesman did not immediately respond to calls or messages seeking comment.
Meanwhile, the Police Command in Niger said an unspecified number of people were killed while observing early morning prayers.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Monday Kuryas, who disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Monday, said the hoodlums also abducted seven other worshipers at the mosque.
Mr Kuryas said the incident occurred on October 25 at about 0530 hours when the gunmen attacked the village.
He said the gunmen later destroyed property worth millions of naira belonging to Abubakar Maigandus in the village.
He said security personnel, however, shot dead one of the bandits.
The commissioner said the incident was understood to be a reprisal attack resulting from a long standing communal feud.
He said that already additional armed security personnel had since been deployed to the area to ensure the arrest of the gunmen “and all other miscreants undermining the peaceful coexistence among residents”.
He urged the residents, especially those in the rural areas of the state, “to come forward with reliable information that could aid the personnel deployed across the state to ensure the arrest and prosecution of all those involved in criminal acts.”
”We are battle-ready to confront any form of criminal elements as long as good residents will volunteer credible information on movement of dubious characters in their midst,” Mr Kuryas said.
The country is battling worsening insecurity and rising crimes, with the swathes of the north badly affected by banditry, kidnappings and insurgency.
