Nigeria: 27 killed in armed attack on mosque during dawn prayers
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At least 27 worshippers were killed in a gun attack on a mosque in northern Nigeria’s Katsina state during dawn prayers, as militant violence and banditry surge across the region.
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A woman mourns the death of a family member following an attack by gunmen in the Zike farming community in north-central Nigeria on April 15, 2025. (AP)
At least 27 people were killed and several others injured when armed men stormed a mosque during dawn prayers in Nigeria’s northern Katsina state, local officials confirmed Tuesday.
Residents said the gunmen opened fire inside the mosque at around 4:00 a.m. local time in a remote village in the Malumfashi district, targeting worshippers as they prayed.
The massacre is the latest in a wave of armed assaults across northern Nigeria, where militant groups and criminal gangs, often referred to as bandits, have increasingly attacked villages, religious facilities, and travelers.
Just days earlier, gunmen kidnapped 60 people and killed several villagers in another northern community, underscoring the worsening security crisis in the region.
Nigerian military kills 100+ bandits in northwest operation
In an air and ground raid last week, the Nigerian military killed more than 100 members of a criminal gang, according to a conflict monitoring report prepared for the United Nations and obtained by AFP on Monday.
For years, armed groups referred to as "bandits" by locals have been terrorizing communities in northwest and central Nigeria, carrying out village raids, kidnapping residents for ransom, and looting and burning homes.
In the restive northwestern state of Zamfara, the military launched a raid "in the early hours" of Sunday in the Bukkuyum local government area, where fighter jets working alongside ground troops targeted a gathering of over 400 bandits at their Makakkari forest camp.
The report suggested that the military's attack "may have occurred in response to consecutive banditry, especially kidnapping, in the state in the previous month," while also noting a connection between a recent reduction in military operations in the state and the surge in bandit attacks.
The wild northwest
What began as clashes over land and water rights between herders and farmers in Nigeria has evolved into a full-blown "banditry" crisis, with the initial disputes transforming into organized criminal activity as armed gangs now systematically target vulnerable rural communities that have historically lacked meaningful government presence or protection.
In Nigeria's largely impoverished rural areas, cattle rustling and kidnapping have emerged as highly profitable criminal enterprises, while armed groups further exploit communities by imposing illegal taxes on farmers and artisanal miners.
This has exacerbated the region's instability as relentless attacks force populations to abandon their farms, deepening the already severe malnutrition crisis in the northwest.
Despite the military's ongoing campaign against criminal gangs since 2015 and the Zamfara state government's establishment of a militia force two years ago to combat the insurgency, the wave of violent attacks continues unabated across the region.
