Terror bandits in their numbers stormed a mosque in Ba’are in Mashegu Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State, killing 16 worshippers.
But Niger State Police Commissioner, Bala Kuryas, had on Thursday said only nine people were killed in the attack which occurred on Wednesday, adding that security have been beefed up in the affected community.
But residents of the area said 16 people were killed and 12 others injured in the attack as the invaders stormed the mosque in the early hours of Wednesday when residents were performing the dawn congregational prayers.
The source said the injured were taken to the Kontagora General Hospital for treatment.
The latest mosque attack followed an earlier one in October in Maza-Kula in the same Mashegu LGA where 17 worshippers were killed.
In that previous attack, many people were also abducted and many others injured.
In Niger State, armed bandits have in the last few years killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands of others.
The State government said that at least over 151, 380 people, mostly peasant farmers, were displaced in the last two years in the state.
In Mashegu Local Government Area where the latest attack took place, over 2,010 residents have been displaced in the last two years.
The killing came as gunmen on the same Wednesday night assassinated the Katsina State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr Rabe Nasir, in his house located at Fatima Shema Quarters in Katsina city.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the Katsina Commissioner was killed in his sitting room and his corpse locked in a toilet in the house.
There were traces of blood at the potion where he was killed and at the toilet where the corpse was locked.
It was learnt that it took several hours for security agents to retrieve the corpse after the doors were forced open.
One of the persons who saw the dead body said there were knife cuts in his belly and other parts of his body.
Governor Aminu Bello Masari, top members of his cabinet and security operatives were at the residence of the commissioner when the body was removed.
Police Commissioner Sanusi Baba and Director of State Security Service (SSS) were also on ground as their men forced open the door of the apartment where Dr Nasir was killed.
The deceased’s phone and that of another person were recovered at the scene.
The police commissioner said the assailants stormed the house of the deceased Wednesday night and killed him.
“The unfortunate incident happened last night,” he said, adding that the corpse had been taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina.
Some people living in the area said the assailants must have taken advantage of his been alone in the house to carry out the heinous act.
It was learnt that when the commissioner sensed danger, he attempted to escape but the assailants blocked him.
“We strongly suspect assassination because the attackers killed him and locked his corpse in one of the toilets in the house,” a source who craved for anonymity, said.
“The corpse was discovered today Thursday,” he said.
The story went viral as people from different places stormed the house.
Another source said several hours after his housekeepers waited when they reported for work in the morning without seeing him, they peeped through a window and saw blood.
“That was when they raised the alarm… He must have been killed at night,” the source said.
Security officials said a suspect had already been arrested in connection with the incident but that could not be verified as of the time of filing this report.
Nasir, 61, was a former member of the House of Representatives (Mani/Bindawa Constituency). His sojourn at the National Assembly was reportedly momentous because of the roles he played.
He was a member of the 9-member panel that investigated then Speaker Patricia Etteh over the renovation of the residences of the speaker and deputy speaker.
Nasir was appointed a Special Adviser to Masari before he was elevated to the position of commissioner.