Residents who escaped violence tell of bandits riding in on motorbikes and shooting indiscriminately

Armed assailants on motorbikes killed at least 30 people and burned houses and shops during raids on three villages in north-west Nigeria’s Niger state early on Saturday, residents who escaped the violence told Reuters.

The attacks on villages in the Borgu local government area, near the border with Benin Republic, are part of a surge in attacks blamed on “bandits” who have carried out deadly assaults, abductions for ransom, and displaced communities across northern Nigeria.