16 drown fleeing terror attack in Niger

EMERGENCY DIGEST- No fewer 16 persons have drowned in the course of fleeing a terror attack in Niger State.

A source said that as soon as residents of Shayita heard that terrorists were close to their community on Tuesday, they gathered their belongings and crammed into 10 wooden boats headed for Zumba community in a bid to escape the attack.

Shayita and Zumba are in Munya local government area of the state.

Most of the passengers were women and children.

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Local divers immediately launched a rescue operation and were able to rescue some of the victims.

Sixteen bodies were recovered while several others are still missing, The Nation learnt.

The rescue operation, however, was reportedly suspended and the recovered bodies abandoned as the terrorists advanced.

The Nation learnt that the other nine boats carrying over 200 people arrived at the Zumba yesterday morning.

Four local government areas of Shiroro, Munya, Paikoro and Gurara have been invaded lately by terrorists.

Commissioner for Local Government and Internal Security, Emmanuel Umar, said on Tuesday that security agents in the state were achieving great success against the terrorists.