Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents, on Friday, killed no fewer than 20 residents of
Bassa community in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
Eye witnesses said out of the 20 persons killed by the gunmen, 10 youths were slaughtered and their heads handed over to members of the community while the gunmen videoed the horror.
The gunmen attacked the villagers at about 8 am on Friday, when some of them returned to their village to pick up some food items they left behind after they fled the community during the last attack on their village.
Sources who pleaded anonymity claimed that those killed were the ones who refused to be recruited as members of the dreaded sect.
The insurgents were said to have told them that anyone who refused to join them would be met with a similar fate.
Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Musa, while reacting to the incident, described the killing of the villagers as barbaric, heartless and inhuman.
The lawmaker said, “My heart bleeds for them. This is my darkest moment as the representative of the people of the Niger East Senatorial District. I am very helpless at the moment. My people, including men, women and children, are being killed like animals.
“The question is, what do they want from the people? These are harmless and innocent peasant farmers. Do they want to chase my people away from their lands?”
Senator Musa explained that just three weeks ago, a group of bandits invaded Kuchi village, killing seven security operatives and kidnapped about 150 people.
” Up until this moment, the entire Kuchi community has remained deserted,” he stated.
The state government has yet to react to the incident.
Two months ago, nine persons in Allawa community in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state, were beheaded after they failed to heed warning from the insurgents not to return to their ancestral land.
