- Safiu Kehinde
No fewer than 22 villagers in western Niger have shot dead by gunmen on motorbikes at a baptism ceremony.
As reported by local media and other news agencies, the shootings happened on Monday in the Tillaberi region, near Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS) are active.
A resident of the area told AFP that 15 people were killed first at a baptism ceremony in Takoubatt village.
“The attackers then went to the outskirts of Takoubatt where they killed seven other people,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Local media outlet Elmaestro TV reported a “gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification”.
“Once again, the Tillaberi region has been struck by barbarism, plunging innocent families into mourning and despair,” Nigerien human rights campaigner Maikoul Zodi said on social media.
The attack has compounded the woes of Niger’s military leaders, who came to power two years ago in a coup.
With around 20 soldiers killed in the region last week, the military government have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence there.
Human Rights Watch has urged Niger authorities to “do more to protect” civilians against deadly attacks.
According to AFP, the rights monitoring group estimates that the Islamic State group has “summarily executed” more than 127 villagers and Muslim worshippers in Tillaberi in five attacks since March.
Meanwhile, the NGO ACLED, which tracks conflict victims worldwide, says around 1,800 people have been killed in attacks in Niger since October 2024 — three-quarters of them in Tillaberi.
Niger and its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, also ruled by military coup leaders who claim to pursue a sovereignist policy, have expelled the French and American armies that were fighting alongside them against jihadism.