At least 58 people have died after unknown gunmen attacked a community in Nigeria’s northeastern Taraba State, police said. Rescue operations continue, with more victims feared missing.
Victor Mshelizah, spokesman for the Taraba State Police Command, told Xinhua news agency on Sunday that authorities had recovered 15 additional bodies, raising the death toll to 58.
The gunmen attacked Binnari community in the Karim-Lamido Local Government Area on Friday, coinciding with the weekly market.
Police recovered bodies from surrounding bushes and a river. An overloaded canoe carrying people fleeing to a nearby community capsized midway, raising fears that more people had drowned.
Local media reported that security personnel initially recovered more than 40 bodies. The attackers opened fire indiscriminately during the four-hour assault, burned several houses and forced families to flee.
The Taraba State government said it had begun distributing relief materials to survivors and affected families. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Taraba State has experienced deadly violence in recent years linked to communal clashes, banditry and ethno-religious tensions, reflecting Nigeria’s wider security challenges.
Earlier this month, suspected terrorists killed at least 22 people, including four security personnel, in an ambush on a civilian convoy travelling under security escort in northwestern Zamfara State.
The attackers struck in the early hours of October 11 near Gurusu village, along a route connecting to the Gwashi-Nasarawa road in Bukkuyum Local Government Area, according to local reports.
Community leader Bashir Abubakar told Xinhua that the victims were traders travelling in a convoy of vehicles to a weekly market when the attackers struck.
A military spokesperson confirmed that four security personnel escorting the convoy died in the attack.
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