Twenty-four people were killed in an attack on Debe village in Shanga Local Government Area of Kebbi State on Easter Sunday, April 5, according to the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora. The assault began around 5 p.m. when suspected bandits stormed the community, killing residents and destroying homes, shops, St. Mary's Catholic Church, and a mosque. The Diocese disputed earlier police reports that cited only four deaths, confirming 24 fatalities across religious lines—Christians, Muslims, and traditional worshippers. The attackers were believed to have originated from hideouts in Wawa Forest in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
Days before, coordinated attacks hit Gebe, Kawara, and Kalkami villages in the same area, prompting mass displacement. Security forces, including the military, tactical police units, marine police, and local vigilantes, were deployed to restore order. The violence spread to Binuwa and Kalkame, where markets and the emir's residence were damaged. Following the attacks, 491 displaced persons sought refuge at St. Dominic Parish in Yauri, where they face shortages of food, water, medical care, and shelter. The Diocese issued a statement in Yauri on Thursday, appealing to President Bola Tinubu and Kebbi State Governor Mohammed Idris for urgent intervention. It also called on humanitarian organisations and the international community to assist, warning that fear now dominates life in affected communities.
The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora's direct challenge to official death tolls exposes a widening credibility gap between state narratives and ground realities in Nigeria's conflict zones. By naming President Bola Tinubu and Governor Mohammed Idris, the Church has shifted from pastoral concern to political pressure, using its moral authority to counter what it sees as downplayed violence in Kebbi. This is not merely a security failure but a crisis of truth-telling, where religious institutions are forced to become fact-checkers in bloodshed.
The fact that 24 people—across faiths—were killed in one attack, with churches and mosques burned indiscriminately, reveals that this is not religiously motivated violence but systemic lawlessness enabled by weak state presence. The Wawa Forest, straddling Niger and Kebbi, has become a launchpad for repeated assaults, yet coordinated cross-border operations remain absent. The displacement of 491 people to a parish in Yauri underscores how local institutions, not the state, are bearing the burden of survival.
Ordinary residents in Shanga and neighbouring communities now live in perpetual fear, unable to bury their dead or return to farms, threatening food security and social collapse. With markets, homes and leadership symbols like the emir's residence destroyed, the social fabric is unravelling. This is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern: rural communities are being abandoned to chaos while responses remain reactive, not strategic. The state's inability to secure border villages is eroding its legitimacy in the eyes of those most at risk.
