KATSINA, Nigeria (BN24) — Armed men stormed a mosque in northwestern Nigeria early Tuesday, killing at least 13 people as worshippers gathered for morning prayers, authorities said.
The attack took place in the town of Unguwan Mantau in Katsina state, an area plagued by repeated assaults from armed groups operating in Nigeria’s northwest and north-central regions. No group has claimed responsibility, but officials said the assault bore the hallmarks of the bandit militias who have carried out similar attacks on farming communities in recent years.
Nasir Mu’azu, Katsina’s state commissioner, said security forces have been deployed to the area to prevent further bloodshed. He noted that armed groups often use farmlands and dense crops as cover during the rainy season to ambush rural communities.
Authorities believe Tuesday’s mosque massacre may have been an act of reprisal. Over the weekend, residents of Unguwan Mantau staged an ambush that left several gunmen dead, Mu’azu said. “This attack appears to be retaliation,” he told local media.
The violence highlights the worsening security crisis in Nigeria’s rural belt, where deadly clashes between herders and farmers have intensified. Farmers accuse Fulani herders of destroying crops by grazing cattle on their land, while herders insist they are following traditional grazing routes established decades ago.
Beyond the communal conflict, Nigeria continues to face the long-running Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, which has killed more than 35,000 people and displaced over 2 million since 2009, according to United Nations estimates.
Last month, at least 150 people were killed in coordinated raids on villages in north-central Nigeria, underscoring the growing reach and firepower of armed groups. Analysts and officials warn that more herders and militia fighters are taking up arms, further destabilizing rural areas.
The latest mosque attack adds to fears that violence in the northwest is spiraling beyond the government’s control, even as military deployments attempt to contain the unrest.
