No fewer than ten people, among them pregnant women, have been kidnapped from a rice farm in Palaita village, located in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, the state police have confirmed.
According to a brief statement by police, the attack occurred on the evening of Wednesday, November 26, 2025. Officers said they received a report around 8:00 pm that “suspected armed men abducted about ten persons from Angwan-Kawo & Kuchipa villages of Shiroro Local Government Area.” Rescue efforts are reportedly underway.
Residents, however, offered a different account. Some eyewitnesses told local media that the raid happened in the afternoon around 4:00 p.m. while the victims were harvesting rice on the farm. In those accounts, as many as 20 farmers, including pregnant women and children, were said to have been taken.
A still different report suggested even larger numbers: a source cited by a local outlet claimed up to 24 persons were abducted during the attack on the Palaita community. The same account added that the community lies only a few kilometres from a military base in Erena raising troubling questions about how the assailants slipped through.
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Despite the variance in numbers, the one fact the police have locked onto is at least 10 confirmed kidnappings. Authorities say security operatives have been deployed to the area, and efforts are ongoing to locate and rescue the abducted persons.
The incident comes barely a week after a major abduction at St. Mary’s Catholic Primary/Secondary School in Agwara Local Government Area, where hundreds of pupils and staff were taken. That event heightened fear across Niger State, especially among rural and farming communities.
Local community leaders have appealed to state and federal authorities to intensify security around farming communities, stressing that many villagers including women and children now fear going to their farms. The presence of a nearby military base does little to reassure residents, given how brazenly the raid was carried out.
Security analysts warn that such attacks, especially on farmers could undermine agricultural production and deepen food insecurity, as rural communities become increasingly reluctant to engage in farming. The fact that the victims included pregnant women and possibly children has sparked outrage among human-rights activists.
As of this writing, there has been no public update on the fate of the abducted persons; no ransom demand has been made known, and it remains unclear whether any have been released. Security operatives are reportedly combing surrounding forests and farmlands in a bid to find and rescue them.
The people of Palaita, Shiroro LGA, and surrounding communities now wait anxiously for news. Many are calling on government and security agencies to move swiftly to prevent further attacks, and to restore hope for safety for those who farm Nigeria’s lands.
