Ruptly
"At least 20 people were killed, and several others abducted, following an armed attack by gunmen in northwestern Nigeria's Niger State late on Tuesday. Footage captured on Wednesday shows residents of the affected villages mourning, with women weeping as communities gathered outside their homes. “I am still in shock and pain in my heart. Now we have left our houses, and we have children and old people; what do we do now?” said resident Merry Isaiah. “Our security men are killed, so we can't stay here anymore.” “The bandits killed people in Alanta on their way to our community. Yesterday, Wednesday, they came into our community with full readiness and firepower, which lasted for several hours, forcing a few vigilantes to retreat. The bandits followed them into this community and killed them,” alleged eyewitness Ibrahim Sulaiman. “That's how women, old people, and children started running, to the extent that many people were injured due to a stampede. We need help from the government as an emergency,” he added. The US State Department has authorised non-essential staff and their families to leave the embassy in Abuja, citing a “general deterioration of the security situation” and issuing travel warnings for 23 Nigerian states. Nigerian authorities say they are reinforcing volunteer self-defence units, known as 'Domol Leydi', to support military operations in bandit-affected rural areas, particularly across Niger State and the wider northwest. Niger State remains a focal point of violence involving armed groups, with repeated attacks driving displacement and insecurity across the region in recent years."
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