Twenty kidnapped, 10 killed as bandits invade hospital in Niger State
Over 30 people including patients, hospital staff and relations were either killed or kidnapped when gunmen suspected to be bandits struck the General Hospital in Lapai council area of Niger State.
According to reports verified by The Oracle Today, the bandits invaded the general hospital in large number and unleashed terror before herding off over 20 people, including hospital staff and visitors into captivity.
Some 10 of the victims were reported dead after the incident which was unchallenged by the security forces.
It was unclear if the gunmen were members of the Boko Haram section of the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) of they belong to the deadly herdsmen bandits that rule terror across the country.
Niger state officials have said that Islamist militant group Boko Haram had taken over multiple communities in the state, offering villagers money and incorporating them in their ranks to fight the government.
The hospital source confirmed that more than 20 workers were kidnapped.
Official sources recorded two people killed while secondary sources said about 10 were killed or died from circumstances of the attack which caused pandemonium that left people running helter scatter.
Governor Sani Bello confirmed that ‘a number of people were killed’ during Tuesday’s attack at Gulu General Hospital and unspecified number abducted including medical workers. He did not specify how many had been killed.
Separately, Dr Dare Godiya Ishaya, president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), told Reuters that 20 NARD members have been kidnapped this year, causing some of them to leave the country partly due to a lack of safety.
