By Ayomide Otitoju
Suspected terrorists have attacked Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State, killing one person and setting ablaze the United Missionary Church of Africa (UMCA) and the police station in the community.
Confirming the incident, the Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, said armed bandits invaded Agwara and launched an assault on the police station, where they were initially engaged by a tactical police team.
He said the attackers later overpowered the team and used suspected dynamite to set the police station on fire. Abiodun added that the assailants subsequently moved to the UMCA church, where part of the building was burnt.
According to the police spokesman, the attackers later advanced to other parts of the community and abducted about five persons, whose identities have yet to be confirmed. He said security agencies were monitoring the situation, adding that further developments would be communicated.
Reacting to the attack, the Catholic Bishop of the Kontagora Diocese and Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Niger State, Most Rev. Bulus Yohanna, urged the Federal Government, the Nigerian Army and other security agencies to urgently establish a permanent military formation in Agwara to stem the recurring attacks.
Also reacting, Murtala Dantoro, son of the late Emir of Borgu, Haliru Dantoro, lamented that repeated terrorist attacks had transformed once-peaceful communities into areas of fear and uncertainty.
He said innocent lives were being lost, farmers had abandoned their farmlands, economic activities had been disrupted, and families were being forced to flee their ancestral homes in search of safety.
Dantoro added that the prevailing security vacuum had emboldened criminal elements, worsening the humanitarian and economic situation in the affected communities.
