Gunmen attack mosque in Nigeria’s troubled north, killing 16

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian official said that gunmen attacked a rural village in the country’s north, killing 16 worshippers at a mosque and kidnapping others. Local government chairman Alhassan Isah Mazakuka said the assault on Ba’are village in the Mashegu area of Niger state lasted for hours on Thursday. He said dozens of the assailants arrived on motorcycles and rampaged through the village, killing people praying at the mosque and looting. The attack is the latest in the escalating violence in northwestern and northcentral Nigeria where armed groups have been targeting remote communities, killing and abducting residents for ransoms.