Terrorists Kill 30 People In Niger State

Armed men have violently stormed a village in Niger state, killing at least 30 people and looting shops.

The attackers emerged from a forest near the village of Kasuwan-Daji on Saturday and set fire to the local market, looted shops and kidnapped an unspecified number of people, Police said.

“The gunmen entered the town on motorcycles carrying weapons, rounded up people and then proceeded to slaughter them, while others were shot dead”, said a source

Abdullahi Rofia, an official with the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the report that villagers were rounded up and killed.

He told journalists that people in the community were terrified: “They are hiding, they are too afraid to talk to anybody.

“They are scared that if you talk, they will turn and do the same to you.”

Niger State Police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, said an emergency team has been deployed to help the injured and security forces are working to rescue those kidnapped.

It is illegal to pay ransom money to the criminal groups, which the government has classified as terrorists, but there are claims this is often ignored.

The attack on Kasuwan-Daji is the latest is a spike of violent attacks against villages in Niger state

A witness to the attack said that there were no security forces in the village.

“We want the government to help us. In the past, we use to hear about this problem in other places, but now it is happening in our villages,” he said.

The fear is driving people from their homes where they were born and raised.

“We are dying like chickens, and does the government care about us?

“The government hears and sees what is happening, but it is not doing anything about it. What can we do as ordinary people.

Villagers say the attacks are driving people away from the villages they grew up in

The attack happened just a day after authorities in Niger state announced the phased reopening of schools, after a mass kidnapping forced them to close as part of emergency security measures.

In November, 2025, more than 250 students and staff from St Mary’s Catholic school in Papiri, Niger state, were abducted.

It was one of the country’s worst kidnappings to date, however just before Christmas, officials confirmed that all of the missing students and teachers had been rescued.