Trending 
Gunmen have killed at least nine farmers and kidnapped several others in a raid on a village in Kaduna State, according to a security report seen by AFP on Sunday and a local source.
The attackers swept into farmlands outside Kakangi village in Birnin Gwari district on Saturday and shot farmers as they worked on their fields, a security report prepared for the United Nations said.
“Nine bodies have been recovered so far, with six of the victims identified by local authorities,” the report stated.
Kabiru Ishaq, a community leader in Birnin Gwari who visited the village to offer condolences, said 10 people were killed. He said the attack was revenge for the killing of a bandit by farmers in a failed robbery attempt earlier the same day.
The bandit’s accomplice “returned with reinforcements and launched a retaliatory assault,” the report added.
Weeks into the annual rainy season, terrorists and criminal gangs known locally as “bandits” have stepped up attacks on farming communities in northern and central Nigeria that fail to pay levies they impose.
Attacks on farming communities in the agrarian Birnin Gwari district have continued despite a November 2024 peace agreement brokered by local authorities between them and bandits.
Last month, at least six farmers were killed and 20 kidnapped in an attack on Danauta village in the district, according to local sources.
Kaduna is one of several states in northern and central Nigeria impacted by the gangs, who raid villages, kill and kidnap residents for ransom and loot homes before burning them.
