Bandits Kill Niger Councillor, Raid Communities

Gunmen suspected to be bandits have killed a councillor in Shororo local government area of Niger State, Saleh Alawa and raided communities around the area abducting scores of people.

Sources from the area said the councillor was on his way to his village in Alawa district when he and his personal assistant ran into the bandits around Zumba road where he was killed and  his personal assistant escaped with injuries.

It was learnt that the bandits might have acted on the information from an informant to lay ambush for the councillor who was shot at severally and died at the spot.

A source who prefers anonymity said “Bandits riding on hundreds of motorcycles are also around Gwada. They are assembling in Katarma, a few kilometers to Sarkin Pawa. A relative of mine in Mutun Daya cried out to me, that their villages are under siege and that Chibani, Kabula, Zazzaga, Mangoro, Daza and Fuka are dens of terrorists”.

The source added that two weeks ago, his relations in Kuchi and Sarkin Pawa informed him of mass movement of bandits along the Kuchi Galadiman Kogo axis and he informed the authorities yet they allowed them to regroup.

It was learnt that security and local vigilantes were on the trail of the bandits while an informant at Gwada town was apprehended by some irate youths and handed over to the police.

The commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Affairs Emmanuel Umar has confirmed the incident and added that efforts are ongoing to apprehend the bandits in no distant future.