The death toll from an attack by gunmen on a mosque and nearby homes in Nigeria’s northwestern Katsina State has risen to at least 50, with around 60 others abducted, local officials and residents said on Wednesday.
The assault took place early Tuesday in the remote community of Unguwan Mantau, Malumfashi district, as Muslim worshippers gathered for Fajr, the dawn prayer. Witnesses reported that armed assailants stormed the mosque on motorcycles, firing on worshippers before sweeping through the village.
Aminu Ibrahim, a lawmaker representing Malumfashi, said 30 people were shot dead and 20 others burned alive in what he described as a series of “brutal attacks” on the community. Katsina police spokesperson Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu said officers intercepted the attackers and prevented a planned assault on two other villages, but while fleeing through Mantau, the gunmen opened fire on residents and torched several homes.
Survivors described harrowing scenes of women and girls being dragged away. “They started shooting inside the mosque while people were praying,” said resident Muhammad Abdullahi. “My neighbour was killed. I was lucky I didn’t come out early.”
On Tuesday, Fatima Abakar, an official at the local general hospital, told Reuters that 27 bodies were registered at the morgue, though many victims were taken by relatives for immediate Islamic burial rites.
Northwest Nigeria has witnessed a surge in deadly raids by gangs, locally known as “bandits,” who routinely target villages and highways, abduct residents for ransom, and extort farming communities.
