In a statement, the police said the gunmen stormed the Kasuwan-Daji village, opening fire on residents and setting fire to the local market and several houses. They also razed down the local market and several houses, Niger state police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement. The attack is the latest in a cycle of deadly violence in the conflict-hit region. Authorities said the attackers came from the National Park Forest along the Kabe district, highlighting a pattern in which expansive, abandoned forest reserves are used as hideouts by armed gangs. At least two residents put the death toll at 37 and said it could be much higher as some people remained missing as of Sunday. Residents also said security forces are yet to arrive in the area, contradicting the police' claim that they have deployed officers to search for those kidnapped. Rev. Fr. Stephen Kabirat, spokesman for the Catholic Church of Kontagora Diocese where the attack happened, told local media that the gunmen killed more than 40 people and that some of those abducted were children. The gunmen had been lurking around nearby communities for about a week before the attack, according to a resident who asked not to be named for fear of his safety. Now survivors are too afraid to go recover the bodies. Saturday's attack in Kasuwan-Daji village happened near the Papiri community, where more than 300 schoolchildren and their teachers were kidnapped from a Catholic school in November. — Agencies
