By Correspondent in Minna
Armed bandits suspected to be Boko-Haram members last weekend, continued their advancement into Niger state with the sacking of eight more communities in Fulka district, Shiroro Local Government Area of the state.
The affected eight communities and environs have been deserted for fear of further invasion as at Monday morning, following the attack by the armed men.
Some of the displaced women by the bandits.
Residents of the affected district, consisting of 1, 569 villagers and environs, according to an eye witness, have relocated to Sarkin-Pawa, headquarters of the Munya Local Government Area as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) while others joined their relatives in Minna, the state capital and beyond.
Our Correspondent gathered that the Sunday night raid on the eight communities, one of the highest single attacks in the state, lasted hours through Monday morning unchallenged as they rode in twos and threes on motorcycles with each carrying AK-47 rifles.
The armed men were said to have first attack a popular businessman in the area, Alhaji Doma Fulka, later proceeded to the house of a member of the State House of Assembly (NSHA), Mr. Andrew Jagaba Doma but could not meet him.
While at the NSHA members’ house, the bandits were said to have rustled several cattle and in the process, injured many members of his family and local vigilante group that tried to resist them.
An eye witness gave the names of the deserted communities to include; “Unguwan-magaji, Kulgbaku, Lukodna, Kakuru, Abuza, Kudan, Dinakogbe, and Kubaidnapa villages have been deserted.
“I can confirm to you that there are no people in these villages as at today (Monday), the bandits have turned the villages to their hiding places and cooking centres,”the eyewitness said.
Efforts to get the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO),for the Police Command in the state, DSP Abiodun Wasiu,to confirm the attacks, as at the time of filing this report, proved abortive as his phone numbers were indicating ‘unreacheable’.
However, a senior official of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), who wants his identity veiled, confirmed the series of attacks and efforts being made to provide temporary shelter for the villagers at the IDPs.
The NSEMA officer, who spoke from one of the IDPs in Sarkin Pawa town, said, “I can confirm attack on Fulka district and this has led to the increase in the number of IDPs in Sarkin-pawa this morning.”
There has been increased cases of armed bandit attacks in the last couple of days in the state, a development some sources attributed to the withdrawal of security operatives from Allawa, Bassa and Zagzaga after the sack of the joint security forces over the killing of some soldiers and burning of their operational vehicles.
Meanwhile, Niger state government through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane has told journalists that the withdrawal of the security men fro the communities were for ‘tactical reasons’.
