Taraba Attack Death Toll Rises to at Least 50, Many Drowned Fleeing Gunmen

The death toll from an attack by gunmen on Binnari community in eastern Taraba State has risen to at least 50, survivors and Amnesty International told AFP on Sunday, after more bodies were discovered in a river.

Both police and Amnesty said some of the victims drowned while trying to flee the attackers.

Gunmen on motorcycles from a suspected bandit gang swarmed Binnari shortly after Friday prayers, killing dozens, looting and burning shops and market stalls.

Taraba is sandwiched between northeastern Nigeria, which has a long-running jihadist insurgency, and the volatile central region plagued by criminal gangs known as bandits who target poorly policed rural areas for ransom and looting.

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Giving an account of the attack, resident Bashir Mamuda Musa said seven bodies were initially found on Friday.

“On Friday, we found seven bodies after the bandits attacked our community,” Musa said. “The following day, Saturday, we discovered another 43 bodies in the river, bringing the total to 50.”

The new toll was confirmed by another resident, Abdullahi Zakari.

“Many residents, including women and children, fled towards the river in an attempt to escape the gunmen,” Zakari told AFP. “Unfortunately, several people drowned while trying to flee the attack.”

Bodies can often be difficult to recover when communities scatter during attacks.

Police spokesman for Taraba State, Victor Msheliza, told AFP on Sunday that officers were still searching the area and had found some bodies in the river.

Officers “found some in the river” of people who were trying to escape, he said, adding that police were immediately deployed to the area after the attack and more deployments have been sent.[bodies]

Amnesty International put the toll at 52 on Sunday.

“The bandits invaded in large numbers,… chased people and they headed toward the river to escape,” and drowned, Amnesty International Nigeria Director, Isa Sanusi, told AFP. “Some were chased into the river by the gunmen.”

In a post on X, Amnesty accused Nigerian authorities of leaving rural communities “at the mercy of gunmen that repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity.”

“Consistent failure of the authorities to bring the suspected perpetrators to justice is clearly emboldening impunity,” the rights group said.

Banditry has become a growing crisis in northwest and central Nigeria, with powerful gangs battling overstretched security forces across hard-to-reach rural locations, raiding villages and imposing “taxes” on farmers and mining operations in areas with little state presence.