The Niger State Police Command has confirmed that suspected armed bandits set fire to a police station and part of a church in Agwara community in the early hours of Sunday.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement issued in Minna on Sunday.
According to Abiodun, the attack happened at about 3:40 a.m. when the assailants stormed the Agwara Police Station. He said officers from a tactical team on duty engaged the attackers, but the bandits later overpowered them.
The police spokesman added that the attackers allegedly used dynamite to set the station ablaze.
He further stated that the assailants later moved to the United Methodist Church (UMC) in the community, where they also burnt part of the church building.
Abiodun said the attackers went on to other parts of the community and abducted about five persons, noting that the identities of the victims had not yet been confirmed.
“The situation is being monitored, and further developments will be communicated in due course,” he said.
The police spokesperson assured residents that security agencies had begun investigations and intensified efforts to track the perpetrators and rescue the abducted persons.
