{"id":90636,"date":"2025-08-20T23:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T23:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=90636"},"modified":"2025-08-20T23:54:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T23:54:00","slug":"gunmen-in-nigeria-kill-muslim-worshippers-in-reprisal-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=90636","title":{"rendered":"Gunmen in Nigeria kill Muslim worshippers in \u2018reprisal attack\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gunmen in north-west Nigeria have stormed a mosque, killing Muslim worshippers in what the local government has called a \u201creprisal attack\u201d.<\/p>\n

Police in Katsina state said 17 worshippers were shot dead by the assailants \u2013 known locally as bandits \u2013 but other reports from the region say the death toll is higher.<\/p>\n

The mosque, located in the village of Unguwan Mantau, was attacked on Tuesday because local residents had ambushed and killed a number of \u201cbandits\u201d two days earlier, Katsina state official Nasir Muazu said.<\/p>\n

Banditry is rife in north-western Nigeria, where armed gangs target locals, often for financial gain.<\/p>\n

Muazu, Katsina state\u2019s commissioner for internal security, said the attack occurred during morning prayers and that the gunmen shot \u201csporadically\u201d.<\/p>\n

As of Wednesday afternoon, the attackers remained at large. Muazu said the police and military personnel had been deployed to find them.<\/p>\n

Despite the reprisal, Muazu said the local government \u201creaffirms its unwavering support for community-based security initiatives\u201d.<\/p>\n

Residents of Unguwan Mantau, meanwhile, have been mourning and tending to the wounded. As per tradition, grieving families have been sitting outside their homes, accepting condolences from visitors.<\/p>\n

Ali Isa Pantami, a popular Islamic cleric and Nigeria\u2019s former communications minister, hit out at the killers, saying they \u201cbetray the sense of humanity on earth\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge the relevant security agencies to ensure the arrest of the criminals and bring an end to this inhumanity and criminality of the highest order,\u201d he wrote in a statement posted to social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe killers of defenceless people are heartless, malevolent, and worse than animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s vast north-west region borders Niger and criminal gangs criss-cross between the two countries, evading capture.<\/p>\n

Katsina and neighbouring state Zamfara have been hit the hardest by banditry in the region, losing the most lives and experiencing the most displacement as a result of the problem.<\/p>\n

Just days ago, kidnappers in Zamfara abducted and killed at least 35 people, despite ransoms being paid for their release, a local official told the BBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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