Residents say the bandits arrived at the village Thursday afternoon when the community market was in full swing

Suspected bandits have reportedly killed 21 persons, including the village head, in Madaka, a village in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.

The bandits also abducted a yet unspecified number of people, residents told PREMIUM TIMES.

The residents said the bandits arrived at the village at about 3 p.m. on Thursday when the community market was in full swing.

According to the sources, the bandits also burnt down about 50 houses and shops, and many cars and motorcycles during the carnage.

They said the well-armed bandits entered the village shooting sporadically before embarking on an orgy of killings, arson, and abduction.

The district head of the area, Isah Bawale, confirmed the incident to our correspondent in Minna, the state capital, in a telephone interview.

It was further revealed that bandits had attacked the same community some years ago and killed the district head. A resident said that because there are no security officers in the area, bandits have been attacking the villages at will.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Wasiu Abiodun, said he was still verifying the reports of the attack.

However, the state commissioner for security, Bello Mohammed, a retired army general, confirmed the incident and said the government was working to protect farming communities in the state.

Niger has suffered from banditry as the state shares forests with states in the neighbouring North-west region where the terrorists have been active for about a decade now.

The state has recorded cases of mass abduction of students and regular ambush of travellers, especially on roads linking the state with other parts of Nigeria.