Many feared dead as bandits go on the rampage in Niger

Suspected bandits in Niger State have reportedly raided shops, killed and maimed residents in the Maitumbi area of Minna, the state capital.

Eyewitnesses said the rampage started on Friday and continued for the next two days, forcing a reign of terror in the area.

A tricyclist, Ifeanyi Nwosu, narrated to PUNCH Online how he narrowly escaped death when some of the hoodlums attacked him while he was carrying some passengers.

“As I was riding my tricycle through the Maitumbi area, I had three passengers when about four of the hoodlums attacked us. They were brandishing their knives and daggers, threatening to use them on us. They collected all the mobile phones of the passengers.

“What saved me was that I was swinging the tricycle, preventing the hoodlums from overpowering me. One of them even used his dagger to try to stab me, but in the process, he destroyed the tricycle’s windscreen. I only managed to escape from them. I would have been a dead man by now,” he narrated.

Another eyewitness, Musa Mohammed, narrated how the hoodlums who were said to be acting under the influence of dangerous drugs beheaded a middle-aged man and his young son, who they caught at the centre of the fracas.

According to Mohammed, police operatives who were invited to arrest the situation were also attacked by the hoodlums. Punch