Gunmen attack mosque in Nigeria, killing 16, kidnap others

 

LAGOS, Nigeria: Gunmen killed 16 villagers during an attack on a mosque in northern Nigeria, while kidnapping others.

The attack occurred in Ba'are village in the Mashegu area of Niger state, local government chairman Alhassan Isah Mazakuka said.

Dozens of attackers arrived on motorcycles, killing people praying at the mosque and looting, officials said.

"They killed 16 and kidnapped many of our people. We don't even know the number they kidnapped because they are uncountable," Mazakuka said, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Armed groups have been attacking local communities in northwest and north central Nigeria.

Officials believe the attackers were primarily young men from the Fulani ethnic group, who often work as nomadic cattle herders, but are now involved in a decades-long conflict with Hausa farming communities over access to water and grazing land.