20 residents fleeing bandits’ attack drown in Niger

About 20 people have drowned in the Guni-Zumba river while escaping attacks by bandits in Niger State.

The victims which included women and children from Guni in Munyan Local Government were said to have lost their lives on Wednesday morning.

In a telephone interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, a resident of the community, Shehu Abubakar, the incident occurred when bandits simultaneously invaded the two communities, forcing the locals to flee.

The victims were crossing to the other side of the river when their boat capsized. He said the boat was loaded beyond capacity, forcing it to capsize in the middle of the river.

“Bandits invaded our communities this morning, and in an attempt to flee, some people drowned in the Guni-Zumba river.

“Due to overloading, the boat capsized in the middle of the water. For now, we don’t know the number of casualties because we have not been able to rescue anybody but I can tell you that over 20 people, including women and children, were involved.”

The Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Hussaini, did not respond to calls and a message sent to him by our correspondent.