By Chimdiogo Amuh 

No fewer than 30 people have been killed, while many others were abducted, following a deadly bandit attack on a village market in Niger State.

The attack occurred on Saturday at Kasuwan Daji Market in Demo village, Kabe District of Borgu Local Government Area. The assailants, believed to be bandits operating from the Kainji Lake National Park, reportedly stormed the market through Kabe, setting it ablaze and unleashing violence on traders and residents.

Eyewitness accounts indicate that the attackers looted food items and other goods, shot indiscriminately at villagers, and abducted several persons, who were taken through routes leading into the expansive forest around the national park.

Confirming the incident on Sunday, the spokesperson of the Niger State Police Command, Superintendent of Police Wasiu Abiodun, said a joint security team had visited the affected community, adding that rescue efforts were ongoing.

According to Abiodun, police received information that the bandits invaded the market at about 4:30 p.m. on January 3, 2026, burning shops and carting away food items. A follow-up report on January 4 revealed that more than 30 people lost their lives during the attack, while several others were kidnapped.

He assured that security agencies are intensifying efforts to rescue the abducted victims and restore normalcy to the area.

The latest incident comes amid growing insecurity in Niger State. It follows a previous attack on November 21, 2025, when bandits abducted more than 300 pupils and teachers from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area.

In that incident, gunmen arrived on motorcycles in the early hours of the morning and abducted 315 persons, including 303 students and 12 teachers. While some victims escaped shortly after, the Federal Government later facilitated the release of all remaining abductees.