At least 50 people were killed and several others abducted after armed gunmen stormed a rural market in Nigeria’s Niger State, in one of the deadliest bandit attacks recorded in recent months, according to local authorities, church officials, and residents.
The attack unfolded on Saturday afternoon at Kasuwan Daji market in Demo village, within Borgu Local Government Area. Witnesses said dozens of assailants—locally described as bandits—arrived on motorcycles at around 4:30 p.m., launching a coordinated assault that lasted nearly three hours.
Survivors reported indiscriminate gunfire on traders and shoppers, the burning of market stalls and nearby homes, and the looting of food supplies before the attackers withdrew. Several civilians, including women and children, were forcibly taken toward forested areas bordering Kainji Lake National Park.
Police initially confirmed 30 fatalities. However, community leaders and officials from the Catholic Church’s Kontagora Diocese later said the death toll had risen to at least 50, as additional bodies were recovered from surrounding settlements.
President Bola Tinubu condemned the assault as a “brutal raid,” warning that the attackers were “testing the resolve of our nation.” He directed the Minister of Defence and Nigeria’s service chiefs to pursue the perpetrators and ensure the immediate rescue of all abducted civilians.
The Niger State Police Command said a joint security team was deployed on Sunday morning. Residents disputed the claim, saying no security forces appeared for hours after the violence began.
As of Monday, the Nigerian military had not issued a specific statement on the Kasuwan Daji killings. The armed forces remain engaged in broader counter-banditry operations, including Operation Fansan Yanma, targeting criminal groups across northwestern Nigeria.
The massacre underscores persistent insecurity across central and northwestern Nigeria, where armed groups increasingly target markets, schools, and remote communities. The attack occurred near Papiri, a community that saw more than 300 schoolchildren abducted in November 2025 before their release last month following negotiations.
Search-and-rescue efforts for the abducted civilians were ongoing, as families awaited word on the fate of their relatives.
