A group of bandits has abducted five persons and burned down a police station in Niger State, causing huge upheaval in the area.
The armed terrorists who also set ablaze a christian worship centre, were said have invaded the area in ferocious attack, overpowering police officers sent to the area before carting away with the now hostages.
The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Wasiu Abiodun, while confirming the incident, said that the assailants made way into the Agwara Community where the attack ensued at about 3:40 am on Sunday.
Abiodun mentioned that a police tactical team who were on duty engaged the bandits, but after they were subdued, they latter used suspected dynamite to set the station and church on fire.
“The assailants subsequently moved to the United Methodist Church (UMC) in the community, where they burnt part of the church building,* the spokesperson said and added, “They later proceeded to other areas of the community and abducted about five persons, whose identities had yet to be ascertained.
“The situation is being monitored, and further developments will be communicated in due course,”he said.
Nevertheless, Abiodun assured that security agencies had commenced investigations and intensified efforts to track the perpetrators and rescue the abducted victims.
The State, in northwestern Nigeria, has been grappling with a surge in banditry and violent attacks by armed criminal groups.
In November 2025, bandits kidnapped over 300 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s School in Papiri. This was followed by a deadly wave of assaults from late December 2025 into early January 2026.
In recall, On January 3, heavily armed bandits on motorcycles slaughtered 42 tied-up men, abducted women and children in Kasuwan Daji village within Agwara Local Government Area, and set fire to the market and homes.
These incidents underscore the persistent security challenges in the state, prompting the residents to call on the government to cease the negative happenings and restore calm and order.
