We Are Under Siege, People Fleeing To Benin Republic, Borgu Prince Cries Out

A member of the Borgu kingdom’s royal family and ADC House of Representatives Candidate for Borgu/Agwara Federal Constituency, Prince Murtala Haliru Dantoro, has stated that the Kingdom is under siege and the people are crossing to the Benin Republic.

He told Journalists in Minna yesterday that, “We are under siege. Our farmers cannot go to their farms in peace. Our women and children are not safe on the roads they have travelled for generations”.

“Kidnapping has become common in places where it was once unheard of. Killings that should shock a nation have become, painfully, routine,” he added.

He stated further that “I want to be very clear about what we are asking for, because there is a difference between the two: We are not asking to be rescued after the fact. We are asking for security in advance. We do not want soldiers and rescue teams arriving after our people have already been killed or taken. We want a permanent, deliberate, and sustained security presence that prevents these attacks from happening in the first place”.

Murtala Dantoro, one of the sons of the late Emir and younger brother of the present Emir, said, Borgu Emirate is not asking for charity, but ‘We are asking for what is owed to every Nigerian community: the safety of our land and our lives.”

He decried that a major bridge connecting Borgu to the Republic of Benin, Kebbi State, and Sokoto State has been destroyed by bandits

“I want the Federal Government and the Niger State Government to pay attention to this, please: we are losing our citizens. Every family that crosses into the Benin Republic because they no longer feel safe at home is a citizen we are quietly losing, one household at a time. This is a humanitarian emergency and a national security concern, and it deserves urgent attention,” he declared.

Murtala Dantoro appealed to humanitarian agencies, both local and international, to come to the aid of displaced persons, both women and children, who urgently need shelter and care.

Niger CAN Prays For Release Of Abducted Worshippers, Seek More Security Coverage

Following the abduction of some worshippers in the Dakera District of Borgu local government area of Niger state, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), of the State chapter, has called for more security presence at places of worship, especially during Friday and Sunday services.

Chairman of the association in the state, Most Rev. Dr Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, made the appeal on Sunday at the St. Michael Catholic Cathedral Church in Kontagora.

LEADERSHIP reported that an unspecified number of worshippers were abducted from mosques in Dekara, Kpenya, Sabon-Gida and Gidan-Zana in Borgu local government area of the state during Jumu’at prayers on Friday, 21 August 2026.

Yohanna said, “The whole of Borgu Emirate, which includes Agwara and Borgu LGAs, needs a strong and permanent security presence so that those in the rural communities can live without fear of being abducted.”

He therefore appealed that security should be beefed up at places of worship, even as he condemned the abduction of hundreds of Muslim worshippers during Jumu’at prayers.

According to the Religious leader, “for us, an attack on any place of worship, irrespective of religion, is an attack on the sanctity of places of worship and a threat to the wider community, and as a Body, we express solidarity with the victims and their families and share in the grief of the affected Muslim communities”.

He stated that millions of Christians and all the churches across the state have intensified prayers for the safe return of the abducted worshippers in Borgu local government area.

The CAN Chairman said to call on all Nigerlites, Christians and churches across Niger State to use yesterday’s (Sunday)  service to cry to God and to pray specifically for the safe return of the abductees and for God to help the security agencies.