Gunmen kill at least 15 people in northern Nigeria, Amnesty says

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least 15 people have been killed after gunmen attacked three communities in north-central Nigeria, Amnesty International said Sunday.

The simultaneous attacks occurred on Saturday in Tashan Maje, Saduro, and Runtuwa villages located in the Borgu area of Niger state, the rights group said in a statement posted on X.

“The gunmen invaded the villages … on dozens of motorcycles shooting in all directions. They also ransacked shops,” Amnesty said.

The “horrific attack” is yet another indication that “people are constantly living on the edge and feeling helpless,” the statement said. It didn’t provide further details about the attackers.

Northern Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis featuring both Islamic militants operating in the northeast and armed criminal gangs kidnapping people for ransom who have wrecked havoc in the northwest and north-central regions.

Africa’s most populous country has been a focus of Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump said that the country wasn’t protecting Christians from an alleged genocide. The Nigerian government rejected the accusation, and analysts say that it simplifies a very complicated situation in which people are often targeted regardless of their faith.

In December, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on Islamic State group-affiliated militants in northwestern Nigeria. Last month, Nigerian authorities said that the U.S. is sending troops to help train the West African nation’s military in fighting extremism.

Last week, the police in Nigeria said that 38 people were killed and others were abducted in an attack in the northwestern state of Zamfara.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian military said on Sunday that it has “recorded decisive operational successes” against militants over the last 24 hours.

Twenty suspects were arrested and a significant cache of weapons, ammunition, logistics supplies, stolen crude oil, illicit drugs and rustled livestock were recovered in what the army described as “a relentless push to degrade terrorist networks and criminal syndicates nationwide,” the military said in a statement.