The number of people killed in an attack by gunmen on a remote village in northeastern Nigeria has reached at least 62, according to the country's national emergency agency.
Ladan Ayuba, who heads the National Emergency Management Agency in Taraba state, said on Tuesday that the raid had also forced thousands of people from their homes. Taraba is the state where the attack took place.
Amnesty International's Nigeria branch said bandits struck Binnari village on Friday. The assailants set fire to homes, shops, food supplies and motorcycles, the group said.
Police have cautioned that the toll may go higher. Victor Mshelizah, the Taraba police spokesperson, told The Associated Press that search efforts were continuing. "We still have men on the ground, and the more we recover bodies, we will put them in account," he said.
The attack comes as Nigeria continues to face a security crisis that began more than 15 years ago, when the Boko Haram armed group launched a rebellion against the government. In the country's north, civilians are regularly attacked, and bandits kidnap people for ransom.
In a statement, Amnesty International Nigeria argued that official efforts to shield civilians have fallen short. "The Nigerian authorities continue to leave rural communities in some parts of the north at the mercy of gunmen that repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity," it said.
The rights group called for an impartial investigation into the Binnari attack and said survivors must receive adequate reparations. It added that for the authorities, "issuing bland statements condemning these horrific attacks is not enough."
Control of illegal mining sites is one factor feeding the violence. Many armed groups in Nigeria hold such sites, and the profits have strengthened them by letting them buy more weapons and recruit more fighters.
According to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), this dynamic has contributed to a rise in arms smuggling and violence across Nigeria and the wider Sahel region.
