Four Hours of Horror: How market day became a massacre in Taraba community

The Taraba State Police Command said the death toll had risen to 58, including 15 people who drowned while fleeing in an overloaded canoe

For about four hours on Friday, gunmen reportedly rampaged through Binnari, a rural community in Taraba State’s Karim-Lamido Local Government Area, shooting at residents, looting shops and setting houses ablaze as terrified villagers fled for safety.

By the time the assailants withdrew, residents were searching nearby bushes and a river for missing relatives, while burnt houses, damaged shops and abandoned belongings testified to the scale of the destruction.

The attack on 23 October has left the community grappling with a mounting death toll, displacement and questions about how the gunmen could operate for hours in an area the state government had already designated a security concern.

The Taraba State Police Commandcsaid the death toll had risen to 58, including 15 people who drowned while fleeing in an overloaded canoe. The police spokesperson, Victor Mshelizah, said search operations led to the recovery of additional bodies from surrounding bushes and a river.

The figure represents a sharp increase from the 10 deaths initially confirmed by the police on Friday. Subsequent reports based on community accounts put the toll at 40 or 50 as more bodies were discovered.

The discrepancies in the casualty figures reflect the difficulties in establishing the full scale of the attack, with some residents still searching for missing relatives.

No group had claimed responsibility for the attack as of Sunday.

For residents, the attack’s timing made the tragedy particularly devastating.

The weekly market is an important commercial centre for Binnari and neighbouring settlements, bringing together farmers, traders and other residents whose livelihoods depend on rural commerce.

According to accounts from community members, the attackers arrived in large numbers on motorcycles shortly after the congregational Muslim prayers and opened fire on residents. They reportedly looted shops, took cash, food supplies and motorcycles, and set houses and other property ablaze.

Abubakar Saifullahi, a community leader, told Agence France-Presse that the assailants carted away provisions and motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing the attack.

Mr Mshelizah said some residents died while attempting to escape across a river in an overloaded canoe, which capsized, resulting in additional deaths.

The recovery of bodies from the river and surrounding areas complicated efforts to establish the full extent of the casualties.

Beyond the loss of lives and property, the attack has renewed concerns about the ability of security agencies to protect isolated communities in Karim-Lamido.

A trader identified only as Adamu said the assailants operated for hours without resistance.

“We have no government in place,” he said, describing the duration of the attack and the destruction of goods during the market raid.

His account reflects residents’ frustration with inadequate protection and repeated attacks.

Yimita Sunday, a hunter and member of the Youth Security Volunteers Vanguard in Karim-Lamido, said poor roads, difficult terrain and weak telecommunications coverage hindered efforts to alert security agencies, reach victims and determine the extent of the destruction.

Eventually, local hunters and vigilantes reportedly pursued the attackers into the surrounding forests before security personnel arrived.

Ephraim Kwachi, an aide to the Karim-Lamido council chairperson, said the gunmen retreated towards settlements around the borders with Plateau and Bauchi states.

Local sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the attackers entered the community through a border settlement in Plateau State.

The police announced additional deployments following the incident, but a detailed public account of the security response during the attack was not immediately available.

The Binnari killings are part of a wider pattern of insecurity in Taraba, where communal clashes, farmer-herder conflicts, banditry, kidnapping and attacks on rural settlements have repeatedly threatened lives and livelihoods.

Unlike states where Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province have been the dominant security threats, Taraba’s insecurity has been shaped by a combination of localised conflicts, criminal activity and disputes over land, grazing routes and access to natural resources.

A security assessment by the European Union Agency for Asylum, drawing on data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), documented recurring violence across Taraba, including intercommunal clashes, land disputes involving Tiv and Jukun communities, farmer-herder conflicts, kidnappings and banditry.

The agency recorded 157 security incidents in Taraba between January 2024 and December 2025, resulting in 242 fatalities. It also cited an estimate of 62,564 internally displaced people in the state as of February 2025, largely in connection with communal clashes and insurgency.

These figures cover different forms of insecurity across the state and should not be interpreted as casualties or displacement caused by a single conflict.

Karim-Lamido has featured prominently in the violence. Its location near the boundaries with Plateau, Bauchi and Gombe states adds a cross-border dimension to security operations, particularly where armed groups can move through rural settlements and difficult terrain.

The European Union Agency for Asylum’s assessment recorded 26 security incidents in Karim-Lamido between January 2024 and August 2025, the highest number among Taraba’s local government areas during that period. Wukari recorded 24 incidents, while Takum recorded 23.