Bandits have killed two loggers identified as Sidiq Musa and Bashir Bisalla and injured another person in Wawa village, Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

A local who preferred to be identified as Nurudeen told the Peoples Gazette that the duo were fatally shot at about 4:00 p.m on Saturday when logging inside the bush.

“Today (Saturday) part of the loggers went to the bush to convey wood and eventually met these bandits who ambushed and fired three of them on a vehicle.

“The one in the back was shot in the back and fell down. The other two in the front. They fired  at them until the entire magazine was empty.  The two men died instantly,” he told The Gazette.

He said that one of the men, Mukhtar Zakari, survived the ambush despite sustaining a gunshot wound and is currently receiving treatment in hospital.

Mr Nurudeen narrated that a similar incident occurred last week when loggers killed two suspected bandits in the forest.

According to him, the loggers encountered the suspected bandits, who were allegedly involved in kidnapping people in the area. “As God would have it, they killed two bandits out of them,” he said.

Residents burnt houses

Following the incident, some residents of the village reportedly carried out a reprisal. 

Mr Nurudeen said that the killing of the duo escalated tension in the village, adding that youths set houses of Fulani people on fire.

“All Fulani houses in Wawa were set on fire. They beat them and collected their motorcycles and burnt them. I saw two motorcycles that were burnt to ashes,” he said. 

He added that before the Army came to douse the tension, damages had been done.

Another local source, Mubarak, who spoke to The Gazette confirmed that houses belonging to Fulani-herders were set on ablaze.

“Some of the houses were set on fire. The killings caused it. Fulani are known as the mastermind behind the killings of youths in the community,” he said.

When contacted, the divisional police officer (DPO) of New Bussa, Saidu Mohammed, directed our reporter to the police spokesman in the state.

“You should call my PPRO. He is the one that speaks with journalists, not me,” he said, before dropping the call.

The state police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun was not available for comment. Text and WhatsApp messages sent to him remained unanswered as of press time.