According to local authorities, the incident occurred last weekend in the small town of Kuchi, which belongs to the Munya local government.

It was also reported that the bandits, numbering more than 200, traveled on motorcycles and stole the belongings of the villagers amid heavy rains.

Niger Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said he still had no concrete information on the attack.

The states of central and northeastern Nigeria suffer attacks by criminal gangs who commit mass assaults and kidnappings to demand large ransoms.

In the last week, the Army neutralized 133 members of armed Islamist groups, according to a report from the Nigerian military command, and said that 82 hostages were freed in that period.

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