ERENA LGA, Niger State — Communities in Niger State have been thrown into fresh panic after armed bandits abducted 24 people, including a heavily pregnant woman, and mutilated a blind resident in separate attacks within the same local government area.
The latest assault occurred on Wednesday in Palaita community in Erena Local Government Area, when gunmen invaded a farmland where labourers were harvesting crops.
Witnesses said the attackers rode in on motorcycles, shot sporadically into the air to scare villagers, and then surrounded the workers.
“They just came from nowhere while people were busy on the farm,” one resident recounted. “They gathered everyone and marched them into the bush. Among those taken is a pregnant woman who was almost due.”
Local sources say the abductees were forced deep into the surrounding forest, a terrain bandits have long exploited as safe havens for holding hostages and negotiating ransom.
In a separate incident within the same local government area, the assailants reportedly cut off the arm of a blind man after accusing him of refusing to “cooperate” with their demands.
“He is blind and could not even see them,” another resident said. “Yet they still attacked him and cut off his arm. It’s wickedness.”
The renewed violence has further intensified fear in Erena and neighbouring communities, many of which have suffered repeated raids, mass abductions and extortion by heavily armed gangs.
Residents say many farmers are now abandoning their fields at the peak of harvest season, fearing attacks, a trend that raises concerns about worsening food insecurity.
Community leaders and youth groups have renewed calls for urgent government intervention, urging both federal and state authorities to deploy more security personnel, clear bandit camps in nearby forests and improve intelligence gathering.
“We are tired of appeals and condolences,” one community leader said. “We need action. Our people can’t go to their farms; they can’t sleep at night. Government must step in before these villages are completely emptied.”
As of press time, security agencies had yet to issue an official statement on the latest incidents, and details about any rescue efforts remained unclear. Locals, however, insist that without a sustained security operation and better protection for rural communities, attacks like Wednesday’s will continue to devastate Niger State’s already traumatized residents.
