Residents, Parishioners Evacuate Niger Communities Over Attacks

Following the killing of some villagers at a market in Kasuwan Daji, some of the villagers around Agwara and Borgu local government areas in Niger State have started relocating in large numbers.

It was learnt that early in the morning yesterday, the villagers received information that the terrorists had threatened to attack more villages after killing 42 people at Kasuwan Daji and Kwashies communities at the weekend.

A villager, Farouk Baba, said, “Some of us in Kwana, the last village of Agwara Local Government, and Tugan Salama after Papiri before Gufanti in Borgu Local Government Area, have decided to be proactive; we are relocating to New Bussa to escape any further attacks.”

He said it had become clear that the bandits were short of food items.

“They now target market days to attack us, collect our foodstuffs and abduct us too,” Baba said.

Confirming this, the Director of Communications, Catholic Diocese of Kontagora, whose members reside in the areas, Rev. Father Matthew Kabirat, said it was true that parishioners and priests were relocating from the place.

Rev. Fr. Kabirat said, “As I am talking to you, our parishioners and priests are leaving for fear of possible attacks. The security personnel who came after the incident cannot be found. There are no signs of help for the people.

“These terrorists are having a good day, and our people are moving from that axis for fear of either being killed or kidnapped.”

Released Papiri Schoolchildren Further Traumatised by Renewed Attacks

On the incident at Kasuwan Daji, the priest said, “The victims are both Christians and Muslims; they also kidnapped an unknown number of women and children. The fire set on the market was so intense that the smoke could be seen 15 kilometres away at Papiri.”

According to him, the situation has further reignited fear in some of the children of Papiri School who were released recently and are now in panic since the attack happened again not too far from Papiri.

On their mode of operation, he said the terrorists would come from Kainji National Park and Game Reserve, through the Kanu Hills, the villages of Sokonbora, Bako-Mission and Shafaci, and operate.

A source that prefers anonymity told LEADERSHIP that the terrorists, suspected to be from Sokoto and Zamfara states, have set up camps in the vast forest of Kainji National Park Reserve, making it easy for them to attack and vanish into the forest immediately.

Another villager, who gave his name as Abuka, recalled how freely the terrorists were operating.

“Between Sunday, 28th December 2025, and Saturday, 3rd January 2026, this group of bandits roamed freely without being challenged; as a result, the Papiri schoolchildren, who were recently released from captivity, including my daughter, have been further traumatised.”

He said they were forced to hide in the bushes with their families whenever reports indicated that the terrorists were nearby, both day and night, thereby forcing the people to relocate out of the area for their safety.

How Our Relations Were Killed – Kasuwan Daji Attack Victims Narrate Ordeal

A woman called Madam Titi said she lost four of her relations in last weekend’s attack on Kasuwan Daji by some suspected terrorists, forcing her and other villagers to relocate.

She told LEADERSHIP in an interview: “They killed four of my family members; we had to abandon the village and run away.

“We don’t know what to do. We all have to run away; there is nobody in the house now. We are up to 100 living in the same house where we relocated to in a neighbouring town; it is safer for us.”

Madam Titi said that her village was Babelu, close to Kasuwan Daji, where no fewer than 42 villagers were either shot at the market or later slaughtered like animals.

She called on the government to ensure that there was adequate security coverage of the area, saying that “only when that is done can we go back home.”

Another villager, Dauda Baka-Aure, also said he lost four of his relations during the attack on Kasuwan Daji last weekend, and that survivors relocated to neighbouring villages, where they sleep outside.

He said the few rooms offered to them were left for the children, while the adults sleep outside in the cold weather.

Painting a sordid picture of the terrorists’ attack, he said they shot at them at Kasuwan Daji and also went to the villages and slaughtered people like animals.