THE once-bustling Kasuwan Daji market in Demo village, Kabe District, now lies in ruins after a devastating terrorist assault on January 3, 2026, that claimed at least 42 lives and left scores abducted. Around 4:30 p.m., heavily armed gunmen on motorcycles emerged from the surrounding forests of Kainji Lake National Park, surrounded the busy Saturday market, tied up traders—mostly men—and slaughtered them in cold blood before looting shops, stealing food items and cash, and setting the entire area ablaze.
The attack continued into the early hours of Sunday, with witnesses describing unimaginable chaos as families fled for their lives.
The rampage extended beyond the market: a police outpost in nearby Shafaci village was torched, while the Catholic Missionary School in Sukumbara had motorcycles stolen and property destroyed.
Among those kidnapped were women and children, including some of the more than 200 pupils recently rescued from a mass abduction in November.
The attackers issued fresh threats of further killings in communities like Kwana and Tungan Salama, prompting widespread panic and a mass exodus from border villages.
This massacre marks the culmination of at least eight major attacks in Borgu since October 2025, rapidly transforming a previously overlooked area into one of northern Nigeria’s most dangerous zones.
The surge began with kidnappings along the Wawa–Luma road in mid-November, where bandits intercepted vehicles and abducted dozens of travellers, firing shots to stop fleeing buses.
The crisis escalated dramatically on November 21, 2025, when over 200 pupils, students, and staff from St. Mary’s Primary and Secondary School in nearby Papiri were seized in a midnight raid.
Held captive for weeks, the children were eventually freed in a federal rescue operation in late December—only for many to fall victim again during the January attacks. December saw the violence turn more confrontational.
On December 23, terrorists struck a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps outpost in Ibrahim Leteh village along the Wawa–Lumma road, vandalising vehicles and destroying the facility in a bold daytime assault that was ultimately repelled. Toward the end of the month, the attacks grew more sustained.
Starting December 28, large groups of armed men on dozens of motorcycles swept through villages like Sokonbora, Bako-Mission, and Shafaci, crossing into neighbouring Kebbi State to kill several residents, abduct others, burn homes, and feast on looted livestock.
The final days of 2025 brought targeted strikes on religious sites: a mission house was raided on December 31, with cash and motorcycles stolen, followed by the burning of documents at Shafaci police station on January 1 and the desecration of a Catholic church in Sokonbora on January 2, where religious items were destroyed.
Before this sudden onslaught, Borgu LGA had enjoyed relative peace compared to more troubled parts of Niger State. Known for its scenic Kainji Lake National Park, the area attracted tourists, supported fishing communities, and allowed farmers to work their fields with minimal disruption.
While occasional bandit activity and militant presence had been noted near the Benin Republic border in prior years, large-scale coordinated terror was rare, and daily life revolved around agriculture, trade, and the park’s natural resources.
Sources say the dramatic shift is widely linked to the December 25, 2025, U.S. airstrikes that targeted Islamic State-affiliated Lakurawa and Boko Haram camps in Sokoto and Kwara states.
Displaced fighters fled southward, merging with local bandits and Ansaru elements inside Kainji’s vast, ungoverned forests to establish new bases and launch retaliatory operations. President Bola Tinubu has condemned the attacks as heinous and ordered security forces—including the military, police, and DSS—to hunt down the perpetrators, rescue hostages, and clear the forest hideouts.
Niger State Governor Mohammed Umar Bago has deployed joint response teams and called for calm, but residents and analysts argue that earlier withdrawals of troops and delayed reinforcements have left communities dangerously exposed.
As mass burials take place and villages empty, urgent calls mount for a permanent military presence and fortified borders to prevent Borgu from becoming a lasting stronghold for terror in northern Nigeria.