Gunmen kill at least 10 villagers and loot shops in northeast Nigeria

ByTimothy Obiezu, West Africa Producer and Patrick Jackson.

Key points

• Speaking to AFP news agency, community leader Malam Abubakar Saifullahi remarked the attackers had arrived on concerning 50 motorcycles, two men apiece.
• Unknown gunmen have raided a remote village in the northeast Nigerian state of Taraba, killing at least 10 individuals, looting shops and setting houses ablaze, police say.
• "People were running in different directions to escape the attack, " Binnari resident Isiyaku Musa remarked.
• Police say they are searching for other casualties in the bush but the authorities were accused by Amnesty International of failing to protect rural communities.
• After the latest incident, police stated they recovered 10 bodies with gunshot wounds after officers responded to a distress call.

There are fears the actual death toll is much higher, with eyewitnesses speaking of 20 lives lost and a non-governmental organisation suggesting a toll of as plenty of as 50.

For context, the gunmen reportedly swooped on the village of Binnari in the Karim Lamido area mounted on motorcycles just after midday Muslim prayers on Friday in a rampage that went on for up to four hours.

Nigeria continues to face attacks by armed groups throughout a number of regions, including the northwest, northeast and central regions.

Notably, the country is additionally battling a jihadist insurgency in its northeast that has lasted almost two decades, drawing persistent criticism of the government's handling of insecurity.

For context, the attackers had fled by the time they arrived but they continued to patrol the area to restore calm, they informed BBC News on Saturday.

"We were able to disperse the unknown gunmen though there was no casualty on their side and ours because the terrain is difficult and they're used to the terrain, " Assistant Superintendent of Police Victor Mshelizah remarked.

He continued that officers were continuing to search the bush nearby for residents who might have been killed or wounded, and cautioned the death toll could still rise.

"They looted shops and took cash, foodstuffs and other provisions, " he remarked. "They also took motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing the attack." The kidnap gangs, jihadists and separatists wreaking havoc in Nigeria.

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Survivors who spoke to AFP remarked they had counted at least 20 dead.

"People were running in different directions to escape the attack, " Binnari resident Isiyaku Musa remarked. "Nobody knew where it was safe to go." Another survivor, Sa'idu Nuhu, remarked that some residents were still missing.

Amnesty's Nigeria director, Isa Sanusi, informed BBC News on Saturday that the NGO had spoken to some of the bereaved families who stated up to 50 individuals had died. "The initial funeral had 37 people, " he remarked.

Sanusi pressed an impartial investigation into the killings, accusing the authorities of leaving rural communities "at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity".

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For now, gunmen kill at least 10 villagers and loot shops in northeast Nigeria remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.