Binnari survivors say 40 killed in motorcycle raid, police count 10

A dispute over the number of victims from a Friday assault on Binnari village in Taraba State, Nigeria, has emerged as police and residents report conflicting figures. Police confirmed the recovery of 10 bodies by Friday evening, but survivors and a human rights group say the toll is much higher.

Amnesty International stated on Saturday that 40 people were killed in the attack. The organization noted that while police initially confirmed 10 deaths, additional bodies were found on Saturday. Survivors told the AFP news agency that at least 20 people died, a count supported by local residents who examined the scene.

Binnari resident Sa'idu Nuhu described the chaos following the raid. "After the attackers left, we counted more than 20 bodies, and some people were still missing," Nuhu told AFP. Another resident, Isiyaku Musa, also placed the death toll at no fewer than 20.

Malam Abubakar Saifullahi, a community leader, detailed the scale of the assault. He said the assailants arrived on about 50 motorcycles with two men on each bike. The group looted shops, taking cash, foodstuffs, and other provisions. They also seized motorcycles abandoned by villagers fleeing the gunfire.

Police said the attackers opened fire just after Friday prayers. Officers reported that a large group of gunmen on motorcycles conducted the raid and looted food from local shops. The violence is part of a pattern of banditry affecting rural areas in eastern Nigeria.

Amnesty International criticized Nigerian authorities for leaving rural communities in the north vulnerable. The group said gunmen are repeatedly committing atrocities with impunity. Bandit gangs in central and northwest Nigeria operate without a specific ideology, raiding villages, kidnapping people for ransom, and levying taxes on farmers and miners in areas where the state has little presence.

In a separate incident on Saturday, the Nigerian military announced it killed 15 "terrorists" in an air strike in Borno State in the northeast. This follows the 2009 uprising by Boko Haram, an armed rebellion that has continued in the region.