Gunmen On Motorcycles Kill 20 In Taraba Village

Gunmen riding on motorcycles have killed at least 20 people in an attack on Binnari village in Taraba State.

Naija News reports that survivors, who spoke with newsmen on Saturday, said the attackers opened fire on residents shortly after Friday prayers.

A resident, Isiyaku Musa, said the attack threw the community into confusion as people fled in different directions.

“People were running in different directions to escape the attack. Nobody knew where it was safe to go,” he said.

Musa and another resident, Sa’idu Nuhu, put the death toll at not less than 20.

“After the attackers left, we counted more than 20 bodies, and some people were still missing,” Nuhu said.

The police, however, gave a lower figure, saying 10 bodies had been recovered as of Friday evening.

A community leader, Malam Abubakar Saifullahi, said the gunmen came on about 50 motorcycles, with two men on each, before launching the attack.

He said the assailants also looted the village before leaving.

“They looted shops and took cash, foodstuffs and other provisions. They also took motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing the attack,” Saifullahi said.

Reacting to the attack, Amnesty International Nigeria accused the authorities of abandoning rural communities to armed groups.

“The Nigerian authorities continue to leave rural communities in some parts of the north at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity,” the rights group said in a post on social media.

It added that the failure to prosecute those behind such attacks was encouraging further violence.

“Consistent failure of the authorities to bring the suspected perpetrators to justice is clearly emboldening impunity,” it said.