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At least 10 people were killed when gunmen raided a remote village in northeastern Nigeria, looting shops and setting houses ablaze, police said. The attack took place in Binnari, in the Karim Lamido area of Taraba state, according to BBC World.
Witnesses said at least 20 people had died, while Amnesty International said some bereaved families reported a toll of up to 50.
Police search for more casualties
The attackers reportedly arrived on motorcycles shortly after midday prayers on Friday and rampaged through the village for up to four hours.
Police said officers responding to a distress call recovered 10 bodies with gunshot wounds. The assailants had left by the time officers arrived, but police continued to patrol the area and search nearby bush for people who might have been killed or injured.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Victor Mshelizah said officers dispersed the gunmen, with no casualties among police or the attackers. He said the difficult terrain was familiar to the assailants and warned that the death toll could rise.
Witnesses report as many as 50 deaths
Community leader Malam Abubakar Saifullahi told AFP that about 50 motorcycles, each carrying two men, had been used in the attack. The gunmen took cash, food and other provisions from shops, as well as motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing, he said.
Survivors told AFP they had counted at least 20 dead. Binnari resident Isiyaku Musa said people ran in different directions, with no one knowing where it was safe to go. Another survivor, Sa’idu Nuhu, said some people remained missing.
Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International’s Nigeria director, told BBC News on Saturday that the organisation had spoken to bereaved families who said as many as 50 people had died. “The initial funeral had 37 people,” he said.
Sanusi called for an impartial investigation and accused the authorities of leaving rural communities “at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity”.
Nigeria continues to face attacks by armed groups in several regions, including the northwest, northeast and central regions. The country is also fighting a jihadist insurgency in the northeast that has lasted nearly two decades, drawing persistent criticism of the government’s handling of insecurity.
