Attack kills at least 20 people in Binnari, Nigeria
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Vanguard
An attack after Friday prayers killed at least 20 people in Binnari village, in Nigeria’s Taraba State, according to residents. Police confirmed only ten bodies had been found, while Amnesty International Nigeria condemned the continuing impunity of armed groups, AFP reports.
At least 20 people were killed on Friday after prayers in the rural village of Binnari, in Nigeria’s Taraba State, by armed men who arrived on motorcycles, residents told AFP. The attackers opened fire before looting shops and taking money, food supplies and motorcycles abandoned by fleeing residents. The Nigerian police reported that ten bodies had been recovered by Friday evening.
Community leader Malam Abubakar Saifullahi estimated that the attackers had used about 50 motorcycles, with two men on each. Amnesty International Nigeria accused the authorities of leaving rural communities at the mercy of armed groups and encouraging impunity by failing to prosecute those suspected of being responsible.
The attack is part of the spread of banditry in north-western and central Nigeria, where groups motivated by money abduct residents for ransom and impose levies on farmers and miners. This latest attack took place on the same day as the bandits’ raid in Binnari and after the armed attack in Taraba State.
