TERROR IN NIGER: Bandits Seize 20 Farmers — Pregnant Women, Children Among Victims in Fresh Shiroro Raid

Daily Post has taken to its online official handle and announced that, in a chilling escalation of rural insecurity, armed bandits on Wednesday launched yet another brazen attack in Niger State, abducting no fewer than 20 farmers, including four pregnant women and several children, in Unguwan-Kawo, Erena Ward of Shiroro Local Government Area.

The victims were ambushed at about 4 p.m., while peacefully harvesting rice on their farmlands. The shocking incident occurred just 500 metres from Erena town, where a military camp is stationed — a proximity that has left residents terrified and questioning the growing audacity of criminal elements in the region.

A distraught resident, who pleaded anonymity for safety reasons, confirmed that his nephew was among those whisked away. He described the attack as “heartbreaking and humiliating,” lamenting the helplessness of farming communities now living at the mercy of heavily armed marauders.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, said the Command was working to verify the report and would provide updates in due course.

This latest abduction adds to the mounting wave of kidnappings plaguing Niger State. It comes barely days after the mass kidnapping of hundreds of students, pupils, and staff of St. Mary Secondary and Primary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area — an incident that has sparked nationwide outrage and renewed calls for decisive government action.

For many residents of Shiroro and its environs, the fear is palpable; the question remains painfully the same: How long before farming communities can work their land without the shadow of terror?