Gunmen Kill at Least 10 in Raid on Taraba Village
Police in north-east Nigeria recovered 10 bodies after an attack on Binnari. Survivors counted 20 dead and Amnesty International says up to 50 died.
Unknown gunmen raided the remote village of Binnari in Nigeria's north-eastern Taraba state on Friday, killing at least 10 people, looting shops and setting houses on fire, police say. Eyewitnesses speak of 20 dead, and a non-governmental organisation puts the toll as high as 50.
The attackers reportedly arrived in the Karim Lamido area on motorcycles just after midday Muslim prayers. The rampage went on for up to four hours. Community leader Malam Abubakar Saifullahi told the AFP news agency they came on about 50 motorcycles, two men to each.
"They looted shops and took cash, foodstuffs and other provisions," he said. "They also took motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing the attack."
Police response
Officers answered a distress call and recovered 10 bodies with gunshot wounds. By then the attackers had fled. Assistant Superintendent of Police Victor Mshelizah told the BBC on Saturday that officers had dispersed the gunmen and that nobody on either side was hurt in that confrontation, because the terrain is difficult and the attackers know it well. Police are still searching the nearby bush for people who may have been killed or wounded and warn that the death toll could rise.
Survivors who spoke to AFP said they counted at least 20 dead. "People were running in different directions to escape the attack," resident Isiyaku Musa said. "Nobody knew where it was safe to go." Another survivor, Sa'idu Nuhu, said some people were still missing.
Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International's Nigeria director, told the BBC that the organisation had spoken to bereaved families who said up to 50 people had died. "The initial funeral had 37 people," he said. He called for an impartial investigation and accused the authorities of leaving rural communities "at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity".
Armed groups continue to attack communities across the northwest, northeast and central regions of Nigeria. The country is also fighting a jihadist insurgency in the north-east that has lasted nearly two decades, and the government's handling of insecurity has drawn persistent criticism.
Source: BBC News