Bandits have carried out yet another violent assault in Niger State, abducting 24 farmers, including pregnant women, during an attack on a rice field in the Palaita community of Erena Ward, Shiroro Local Government Area.
According to a community source, the armed group stormed the farm around 2:00 pm on Wednesday, ambushing residents who were in the middle of harvesting their crops.
Despite Palaita being only about five kilometres from a military base in Erena, the attackers fled with the captives before security forces could intervene.
Earlier the same day, a different gang of armed men raided Kakuru community, also within Erena Ward.
They reportedly confronted a blind resident who was alone at home, assaulted him, and amputated his right hand after forcefully taking a mobile phone from him.
The attackers had asked him about the phone, and the victim explained that it belonged to a neighbour who had gone to the farm.
The response angered the assailants, prompting them to chop off his hand.
He is currently receiving treatment at a patent medicine shop in nearby Kuduru.
The spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident, adding that multiple communities were affected.
“On November 26, 2025, at about 8 pm, a report was received indicating that suspected armed men abducted about ten persons from Angwan-Kawo and Kuchipa villages of Shiroro Local Government Area. Effort is being made to rescue the victims,” Abiodun stated.
The fresh attack comes just days after the mass kidnapping of more than 300 students and teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, also in Niger State.
The region has been hit by an escalating wave of abductions, with bandits increasingly targeting rural communities, schools, and travellers.
Nigeria has witnessed a surge in violent kidnappings for ransom in recent days, heightening tensions and deepening the national security crisis.
