At least 15 people have been killed after gunmen attacked three communities in north-central Nigeria, Amnesty International said on Sunday.
The simultaneous attacks occurred on Saturday in Tashan Maje, Saduro and Runtuwa villages in the Borgu area of Niger state, the rights group said in a statement posted on social media.
“The gunmen invaded the villages ... on dozens of motorcycles shooting in all directions. They also ransacked shops,” Amnesty said.
Photo: AP
The “horrific attack” is yet another indication that “people are constantly living on the edge and feeling helpless,” it said.
It did not provide further details about the attackers.
Northern Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis featuring both Islamic militants operating in the northeast, and armed criminal gangs kidnapping people for ransom who have wrecked havoc in the northwest and north-central regions.
Africa’s most populous nation has been a focus of Washington after US President Donald Trump said that the country was not protecting Christians from an alleged genocide. The Nigerian government rejected the accusation, and analysts say that it simplifies a situation in which people are often targeted regardless of their faith.
US forces in December last year launched airstrikes on Islamic State group-affiliated militants in northwestern Nigeria.
Nigeria last month said that the US is sending troops to help train the West African nation’s military in fighting extremism.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian military on Sunday said that it had “recorded decisive operational successes” against militants over the previous 24 hours.
Twenty suspects were arrested and a significant cache of weapons, ammunition, logistics supplies, stolen crude oil, illicit drugs and rustled livestock were recovered in what the army described as “a relentless push to degrade terrorist networks and criminal syndicates nationwide,” the military said in a statement.
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