Suspected bandits kill 33 in northwest Nigeria: Police

Abuja: At least 33 people were killed when a group of suspected bandits attacked a district in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Kebbi, police said on Friday.

Bashir Usman, police spokesperson in Kebbi, said in a statement that the bandits, suspected to be members of Lakurawa, a militant group operating in the northern part of the country, attacked Bui District in Arewa Local Government Area on Wednesday.

The armed men invaded the district with the intent to rustle cattle, Usman said, citing preliminary investigations, Xinhua news agency reported. The assailants were believed to have crossed into the area from Gudu Local Government Area in the neighbouring Sokoto State.

Some locals from surrounding communities mobilised in response to the invasion, he said, adding that “in the ensuing confrontation, 33 persons lost their lives.”

The police spokesperson said all security agencies, including the military, have intensified patrols in the affected communities, with additional personnel and operational assets deployed to restore normalcy and prevent further attacks.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has ordered an investigation into an explosion Wednesday at a lead mining site in the central Plateau State that killed at least 38 people and injured 25 others.

The site, operated by Solid Mining Company in the Zurak community of Wase Local Government Area, has been sealed off.

Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake ordered the probe late Wednesday, noting that the victims were exposed to gaseous emissions while allegedly mining at the underground mining site.

The closure of the mining site was “necessary to contain the situation and conduct investigations,” Alake said, adding that a team of officials and investigators had been dispatched to probe the remote and immediate causes of the incident and to recommend sanctions.

The team also includes experts in mining, environmental compliance, and artisanal cooperatives, he said.

“The actions were taken as preliminary reports indicated that the company ceded the pit where the incident took place to the community to mine following agitations by villagers for empowerment,” the minister said.

The area was an abandoned lead site with the stored mineral prone to emissions of sulphuric oxide, he added.

Unaware of the poisonous nature of the emissions, the villagers reportedly engaged in extraction while inhaling the gaseous substance, he said.

IANS