At least 21 people are feared dead and 37 others abducted after gunmen stormed Tsamaye community in Sabon Birni Local Government Area, Sokoto State, for the second time in a week — this time triggering a river tragedy that claimed even more lives.
According to vanguard, the attack began around 9 p.m. Monday and lasted until past 3 a.m. Tuesday, with homes torched, livestock looted, and the entire community abandoned. Among the confirmed dead are Kabiru Tanimu, Ayuba Hashim, and Yakubu Mu’azu, with many more still missing.
As residents fled toward a nearby river to escape the attackers, overloaded boats capsized, sweeping away roughly 25 people — mostly women and children. Seven survived; 18 remain feared drowned as families search for loved ones.
The gunmen reportedly answered abducted victims’ phones themselves, telling relatives they had taken 37 people — many snatched from farms where villagers had been sleeping to avoid earlier raids. One resident said the attackers left infants on the ground while marching their mothers away.
Locals say they alerted security operatives before the attack intensified, but reinforcements never arrived. A vigilante member said troops stationed nearby cited a lack of adequate equipment when asked to help repel the assault.
The attack follows a similar raid last Wednesday that killed eight people, including three worshippers inside a mosque — underscoring Sabon Birni’s status as one of the deadliest flashpoints in Nigeria’s North-West despite ongoing security operations.
