Amnesty Says 40 Killed in Taraba Village Raid as Nigeria Police Count 10

Human rights group Amnesty International said 40 people were killed in a raid on Binnari village in Nigeria's Taraba State on Friday, while state police put the toll at 10. Police said 10 bodies had been recovered by Friday evening after a large group of gunmen on motorcycles attacked the village. Survivors told AFP at least 20 people died.

The attack began just after Friday prayers, residents said. Malam Abubakar Saifullahi, a community leader, said the assailants arrived on about 50 motorcycles carrying two men each. He told AFP the attackers looted shops and took cash, foodstuffs and other provisions, along with motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing. Police said the attackers also took food from shops during the raid.

Sa'idu Nuhu, a Binnari resident, told AFP: "After the attackers left, we counted more than 20 bodies, and some people were still missing." Another resident, Isiyaku Musa, also put the death toll at no fewer than 20. Amnesty International said police had initially confirmed 10 deaths, but that more bodies were found later on Saturday.

Amnesty International criticized Nigerian authorities, saying they "continue to leave rural communities in some parts of the north at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly committing atrocities with impunity".

Banditry has grown in northwest and central Nigeria, where gangs clash with police and military forces across remote rural areas. Taraba, a central-eastern state, faces the same threat from groups driven by no ideology. These groups raid villages, kidnap people for ransom, and levy "taxes" on farmers or miners in areas where the state has little presence.

Nigeria has fought an armed rebellion since the 2009 uprising by Boko Haram. In a separate development on Saturday, the Nigerian military said it killed 15 "terrorists" in an air strike in the northeastern state of Borno.