A Divisional Police Officer, Umar Dakin, and six other persons have been killed by bandits in Nasko, Magama Local Government Area of Niger State, THE VENT REPUBLIC reports.
According to reports, the dare-devil armed men rode on over a hundred motorcycles, heading straight to the Police station, killing the DPO.
A source who spoke to PUNCH, with name Jiamu Dangwere, stated that nobody was abducted from the village, but the bandits killed five other vigilante group members in the operation.
In his words:
“They didn’t carry anybody, they just went straight to the police station and killed these people and left,” he said.
He noted that they have been availed with rumours of bandits passing through some villages, with panicky villagers deserting villages for fear of an attack.
He added, “We have been hearing that they followed here or followed there so people started to run away from the villages until they came and attacked.
“People from other villages saw them passing through their villages. As they were running for their lives, they were also making calls to people in villages ahead to inform them that the bandits were moving in their direction.
“When I got the call that the bandits were moving towards the direction of Nasko, I wasn’t at home but I instructed my family to run to Salka”.
The Niger State Commissioner for Police, Bala Kuryas, while confirming the attack, said the bandits strayed into Nasko from Kebbi State.
The State Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Internal Security, Emmanuel Umar, while also confirming the attack, stated that the DPO and six other people were killed in the attack.
“Unfortunately, we lost the DPO, two other police officers and four vigilante group members to this attack,” Umar said.