In coordinated attacks, terrorists killed no fewer than six people, abducted 160 others and raped at least six women in Kuchi village, in Munya Local Government Area of Niger State between Friday and Sunday, survivors have told PREMIUM TIMES.

The terrorists, riding on motorcycles, were spotted around Kafana, a village at the state’s boundary with banditry-ravaged Kaduna State, advancing towards Kuchi.

Poorly-armed local forces described by locals as “Yan Sakai” engaged the terrorists in a fierce gunfight, preventing them from attacking the community.

Following the gunfight that claimed three civilians and three local security operatives, the terrorists retreated in disarray after suffering what a grassroots political party leader described as a huge loss.

While mourning lives lost in the attack, the Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Munya LGA, Saidu Idris, praised the local security forces who he claimed killed “plenty of the terrorists.”

The return of the terrorists

After rustling cattle from adjoining villages of Bodo and Kurbagu, the terrorists returned to Kuchi around 9 p.m. that same Friday and abducted at least 160 locals before herding them into the forest under heavy rainfall.

Mr Idris, the APC leader in Munya, said the terrorists might not have abducted anyone “if there were cattle to rustle.”

According to him, livestock owners fled with their animals upon hearing that the terrorists were approaching.

On Sunday, the terrorists returned to the village around 10 p.m. and operated until the following morning.

During the Sunday attack, the traditional head of the village, Idris Barde, and his wife were abducted.

However, they later set him free and went away with his wife.

‘They raped women and girls’

Two survivors of the attacks revealed that the terrorists looted many shops and raped at least six married women and four girls.

Ibrahim Alilu, one of the displaced persons from Kuchi, recounted how a young girl was gang-raped in his compound.

“The terrorists locked many of us up in one room and vowed to come for us once they were done raping that girl,” Mr Alilu, now taking refuge in Gwada in Shiroro LGA, told PREMIUM TIMES by phone.

“It was during that ungodly moment that we got a chance to escape through the window,” he added.

Mr Alilu continued: “The girl alongside other abductees was taken to one village, Zawuna, where she was released.”

The account was corroborated by another displaced villager who pleaded not to be named for fear of being targeted by terrorists’ informants.

But she could not ascertain the number of women or girls raped by the terrorists. She simply noted that a woman she knew was raped without providing further details.

The Niger State Commissioner for Homeland Security, Garba Abdullahi, when contacted, told PREMIUM TIMES the state government was working on a measure that “if not permanent will be a long-term solution.”

“We are on it day and night,” Mr Mohammed, a retired major general, added.

One of the concerned youths in the axis, Murtala Kabeer, pleaded with the government to station a formidable military base to keep terrorists away from the area.