Over 20 women, children drown while escaping bandits attack in Niger

About twenty women and children have drowned in the Guni-Zumba river while escaping attacks by bandits in Niger State.

The victims which included women and children from Guni in Munyan Local Government were said to have lost their lives on Wednesday morning.

A resident of the community, Shehu Abubakar, said the incident occurred when bandits simultaneously invaded the two communities, forcing the locals to flee, The Punch reports.

The victims were reportedly crossing to the other side of the river when their boat, which was overloaded, capsized in the middle of the river.

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He said, “Bandits invaded our communities this morning, and in an attempt to flee, some people drowned in the Guni-Zumba river”.

“Due to overloading, the boat capsized in the middle of the water. For now, we don’t know the number of casualties because we have not been able to rescue anybody but I can tell you that over 20 people, including women and children, were involved.”