Suspected terrorists have attacked Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State, killing one person and setting ablaze the United Missionary Church of Africa (UMCA) as well as the police station in the community.
Confirming the incident, the Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, said armed bandits invaded Agwara community and attacked the police station, where they were initially engaged by a tactical police team.
According to Abiodun, the attackers later overpowered the team and “used suspected dynamite to set the station ablaze.”
He added that the assailants subsequently moved to the UMCA church in the community, where they burnt part of the building, before proceeding to other areas and abducting about five persons whose identities have yet to be ascertained.
Abiodun said security agencies were monitoring the situation and that “further developments will be communicated.”
Reacting to the attack, the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese and Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Niger State, Most Rev. Bulus Yohanna, appealed to the Federal Government, the Nigerian Army, and other relevant security agencies to immediately establish a permanent military formation in Agwara to curb recurring attacks in the area.
Also reacting, Murtala Dantoro, son of the late Emir of Borgu, Haliru Dantoro, lamented that repeated terrorist attacks had transformed once-peaceful communities into zones of fear and uncertainty.
“Innocent lives are being lost, farmers have abandoned their farmlands, economic activities have been paralysed, and families are forced to flee their ancestral homes in search of safety,” Dantoro said.
According to him, the prevailing security vacuum has emboldened criminals, who now operate with little or no resistance, further worsening the humanitarian and economic situation in the affected communities.
