Gunmen attacked two communities in Niger State on Wednesday and killed 34 persons.
The Niger State incident appeared to be retaliation as a few weeks ago some special hunters and local vigilantes killed scores of gunmen who were terrorizing the communities.
The gunmen launched Wednesday’s attack on Nakuna and Wurukuchi communities when the villagers were on their farm’s harvesting produce.
All the houses in Nakuna, with a population of about 200, were burnt down by the gunmen, who invaded the community in search of vigilantes.
According to Yahaya Mota, who lost 10 members of his family to the attack, 20 other bodies were discovered in the bush.
Apart from the razed houses, he said the gunmen also burnt food barns in the communities before leaving.
He added that during the search for members of the vigilance group and local hunters, the gunmen abducted three of the special hunters.
The 75-year-old Mota said six children and four others, who came to assist in the harvesting of farm produce, were killed in a terrible manner, adding that their hands were tied to their backs before they were shot.
The state Commissioner of Police, Monday Kuryas, confirmed the incident but said the command had yet to ascertain the actual number of people killed during the attack. Adding that security personnel had been deployed in the affected communities to restore normalcy.