President Bola Tinubu on Sunday told the military, police and State Security Service to hunt down the gunmen who stormed Kasuwan Daji market in Niger State on Saturday, killing at least 30 villagers and kidnapping dozens of women and children.
He also told the agencies to move fast and free every abducted person, warning that the attackers “must face the full consequences of their criminal actions.”
A statement signed by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said Tinubu believes the raid was carried out by terrorists who fled Sokoto and Zamfara after the United States hit their camps with airstrikes on Christmas Eve.
Armed bandits struck the busy market in Demo community, Borgu Local Government Area, around 4 p.m. on 3 January, shooting traders, torching stalls and looting food stores. Niger State Police spokesperson SP Wasiu Abiodun said the attackers came from the National Park forest along Kabe District.
“These terrorists have tested the resolve of our country and its people. They must, therefore, face the full consequences of their criminal actions,” Tinubu said. “No matter who they are or what their intent is, they must be hunted down. They, and all those who aid, abet or enable them in any form, will be caught and brought to justice.”
The President condoled with bereaved families and the government and people of Niger State, and told security services to step up patrols in vulnerable communities.
His order follows the U.S. strikes on Tangaza Local Government Area, Sokoto State, between 11:45 p.m. on 25 December and 12:30 a.m. on 26 December. According to the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, MQ-9 Reaper drones fired 16 munitions at two Islamic State camps in the Bauni forest as fighters tried to slip into Nigeria from the Sahel.
The Lakurawa group, which operates in remote parts of Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states, has since been officially tagged a terrorist organisation.
