Around 100 people were kidnapped and eight people killed by armed bandits at Mariga LGA in Niger State on Wednesday night, FIJ can report.

This has led to many of the villagers in Mariga moving to Minna, the capital of Niger.

Hauwa Shafii, a resident of Minna, told FIJ that security is usually tight in Minna, especially during prayers, considering that places of worship are a target.

“The air is tense and there is fear but nothing has happened yet,” she said.

Mariga, which is two hours away from Minna, about 140 kilometres, has been deserted by villagers. An Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp has been set up in Gwada, almost an hour away from Minna.

The number of displaced people is currently placed at over 4,000. As of the last documentation, which was over a week ago, 3,883 people were documented. Many of them still insisted on returning to their villages despite being unsafe and didn’t want to stay at the IDP camp, forcing the government to take action.

Hauwa told FIJ that before Boko Haram took over Shiroro Local Government, there had been news of shootings and killings, but it had been ignored for a long time. Now the reality in Minna is different and things have changed. Shiroro lies about 64km away from Minna and takes one hour 15 minutes to cover.

“I am not sure what the government is doing. At our level we have been trying to raise money and provide food, water and clothing for the sick. In a week we had raised N5 million.”

The Niger IDP Response Coalition, which is made up of individuals and organisations like the Development Initiative of West Africa, has taken it upon itself to attend to the IDPs.

“I found that most of the IDPs did not like the idea of being put in the same place as the Fulani. The Hausa were very vehement about that,” Hauwa noted, saying it was becoming overwhelming. However what has been more annoying is the media’s reference to those causing the havoc and terrorizing villages as armed bandits.

“The way we keep saying bandits, it pains me,” she said. “Language is important and the way we describe these people as bandits, it doesn’t do any justice to the severity of what is going on.”