Niger authorities in central Nigeria are searching for armed groups that have attacked mines this week and kidnapped several, including four Chinese citizens. increase. Nigerian media reports that an unknown number of workers were killed in the attack on Wednesday. This is the second time this year that Chinese workers have been abducted in the state amid growing anxiety in Nigeria.
Niger State Police Secretary, Bala Kuryas, said Monday that reinforcements were sent to the Shiroro municipality, where the Ajata Aboki mining site is located.
Armed men attacked the scene on Wednesday, firing at operators and killing an unspecified number while kidnapping workers, including four Chinese civilians.
Kuryas said the mining site was deep in the bush and some security forces, including troops, police and local vigilants, responded immediately to distress signals from the site and chased the attackers.
He said four policemen had been killed, but did not disclose the number of military personnel and vigilants affected. He also said security officials had killed some of the armed men.
"For now, we're on their way. Some of them have been incapacitated," Kuryas told VOA. "We are still trying to find the exact number. It's an update so far. We're still investigating. An army I can't speak for them."
The Chinese embassy in Nigeria has not issued an official statement on the incident, and no comment was received on Friday.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello called it blocking the attack and urged security officials not to give in to efforts to restore peace in the state.
Abuja-based security expert Patrick Agbambu said authorities should have been more vigilant given the records of attacks in the state.
"I knew that the state of Niger had recently been the flash point for such attacks, so I expected more security," he said. .. "Foreigners are considered to be more profitable than kidnapped enemy ransoms, and to draw attention, it is rampant, and perhaps Nigeria will be dangerous to the business."
Nigeria is seeing waves of attacks in some areas, and analysts say foreign workers and the public are often the target of criminal organizations trying to squeeze huge payments from their employers.
In January, three Chinese working on a hydropower project in Shiroro were abducted.
Beijing has warned the people working in Nigeria to be wary of vulnerable areas. In May, Nigerian Chinese officials and representatives of local Chinese companies discussed security issues.
