Overview
- Gunmen on motorbikes attacked the villages of Bagna and Erena in Shiroro district, in pre‑dawn raids Tuesday that residents said lasted for hours.
- Local accounts initially put the death toll above 20, and by Friday residents reported 61 bodies recovered, while police kept the official count at three.
- Witnesses described house raids and abductions that drove hundreds from their homes, with many sheltering at Zumba Central Primary School.
- No group has claimed responsibility, though residents and security sources blamed Mahmuda, a jihadist splinter linked to Boko Haram and reported to have ties to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
- Clerics reported more than 40 deaths across several villages in Kebbi and Niger states since Sunday, reflecting a wider security crisis that strains response and verification in remote areas.