Bandits, on Monday, embarked on an indiscriminate raping of women and girls across five communities in Shiroro local government area of Niger State as their children watched with disbelief.
It was gathered that about 30 women and girls were raped, with two to three bandits raping one woman during the sex extravaganza as they moved from one community to another on their motorcycles. No reason was given by the bandits for their action as, according to sources, their mission was just to rape women in the communities, including young girls.
The affected communities where the bandits carried out their heinous crimes include Dnasa, Iburo, Pelele, Gofa and Nakogbe, all in Shiroro local government area of the State.
According to the source, every woman or girl sighted by the bandits was dragged to her room and raped in broad daylight. She said many women and young girls were raped in Pelele, adding that “they told us that they would kill any woman who refused to obey them”.
She disclosed that in some instances, mothers and daughters were being raped simultaneously by the bandits, who the source said were between the ages of 25 to 30, and carrying sophisticated weapons. The source added that the bandits had actually came to kidnap the men but could not meet any of them at home as they were all in the farm, and decided to rape the women and girls in the affected communities in their (women) various houses.
After the atrocities, the bandits were said to have later kidnapped some of the men sighted in the farms on their way out of the communities and were still being held in captivity. Fear and apprehension have therefore gripped neighbouring communities, as nobody knows which community would be their next target.
There has not been any statement from the security agents on the latest incident which has left many of the affected women and girls traumatised.
