34 killed in Nigeria’s ‘armed bandits attack’

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

At least 34 people were killed in a weekend attack in northwestern Nigeria, a federal lawmaker said on Tuesday, calling for an increased security presence and relief materials for victims of the violence.

On Saturday, 34 people -- all men -- were murdered by “armed bandits” in the village of Karu in Zamfara state, leaving 64 women widowed and 113 children orphaned, Senator Kabiru Marafa told parliament.

“Between February and now, no less than 200 people have been killed, and there doesn't seem to be any relief to our people. Something must be done to stop this killing. We call on the National Emergency Management Agency to help the families who have been left in serious need,” he added.

The Senate observed a minute of silence in honor of the victims, and said security officials may be summoned to explain what is being done to address the killings in many parts of the country, especially in the agrarian belts, where herders and farmers are locked in internecine violence that has claimed hundreds of lives.

Earlier on Tuesday, Terver Akase, a spokesman for the north central Benue government, told reporters that 15 people were killed in an early morning attack on a Catholic church in the Ayer-Mbalom community of the restive state.

Catholic authorities confirmed that two priests -- Rev. Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha -- were killed in the violence, which they blamed on herders.

Rev. Fr. Moses Iorapuu, a spokesman for the Catholic Church, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that the attackers struck during the early morning mass.

President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the killings in a statement.

“I extend my sincere condolences to the government and people of Benue State, the Mbalom community, and especially the Bishop, priests and members of the St Ignatius' Catholic Church, whose premises was the unfortunate venue of the heinous killings by gunmen.

"This latest assault on innocent persons is particularly despicable. Violating a place of worship, killing priests and worshippers is not only vile, evil and satanic, it is clearly calculated to stoke up religious conflict and plunge our communities into endless bloodletting," he said.

Buhari vowed that the assailants would be hunted down and made to pay for their sacrilege.