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An armed group attacked two villages in Niger State during Friday prayers, killing and kidnapping scores of residents, survivors and a lawmaker told AFP on Saturday.
The attackers, believed to be members of the Lakurawa group, targeted Dikera and Binzi villages in the Borgu local government area.
“Soon after finishing the normal Friday prayer, the armed group of Lakuwara, in their hundreds, wielding guns, knives and machetes, began to attack us,” said Jibril Ahmad, a survivor of the attack on Dikera village.
“They slaughtered some of our people, saying we are not practicing the true teachings of Islam,” he added.
Ahmad said that during the attack, another armed group known as Mahmuda intervened and clashed with the Lakurawa fighters.
He said many people escaped while the Lakurawa fighters “were busy trying to confront” their Mahmuda rivals.
The nearby village of Binzi was also hit, Ahmad and federal representative Jafaru Mohammed told AFP.
Neither Ahmad nor Mohammed could provide a firm death toll.
Niger state police said they were aware of the kidnapping but had not received reports of deaths.
