Armed bandits have attacked Agwara community in Niger
State, setting a police station and a church on fire and abducting several
residents.
Confirming the incident, the Niger State Police Public
Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, said the attackers stormed the community
and launched an assault on the local police station. He explained that officers
from a tactical unit engaged the bandits but were eventually overwhelmed.
According to Abiodun, the attackers deployed what was
believed to be dynamite to raze the police facility before moving to a UMCA
church in the area, where part of the building was also set ablaze. The
assailants later advanced into surrounding neighbourhoods and kidnapped about
five people, whose identities are yet to be confirmed.
The police spokesperson said security agencies are
closely monitoring the situation and promised that updates would be provided as
events unfold.
Reacting to the attack, the Catholic Bishop of
Kontagora Diocese and Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in
Niger State, Most Rev. Bulus Yohanna, urged the Federal Government, the
Nigerian Army and other security agencies to urgently establish a permanent
military base in Agwara to halt the recurring violence.
Also expressing concern, Murtala Dantoro, son of the
late Emir of Borgu, Haliru Dantoro, said persistent terrorist attacks have
transformed previously peaceful communities into places of fear and
instability.
He lamented that innocent lives are being lost,
farmlands abandoned, economic activities disrupted and families forced to flee
their ancestral homes in search of safety.
Dantoro added that the continued absence of strong
security presence has emboldened criminal elements, worsening both the
humanitarian and economic conditions in affected areas.
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