NIGER, 11 December 2021, (TON): Gunmen have attacked a mosque in central Nigeria's state of Niger, killing nine people, police said Friday while residents gave a higher death toll of 16.

The reason for the attack was not immediately known, but gangs of criminals known locally as bandits have terrorised communities in northwest and central Nigeria for years.

Local police chief Monday Bala Kuryas said “heavily-armed men on motorcycles stormed the remote Ba'are village in Mashegu district on Wednesday, opening fire on a mosque while worshippers were praying.”

Kuryas said "the attackers killed nine Muslim worshippers inside the mosque and left some others injured.”

The police official said “a joint team of police and civil defence paramilitary personnel deployed to the area while the injured were taken to a nearby hospital.”

Resident Amadu Hamisu said locals collected 16 bodies from the mosque after the attack.

Hamisu told media "a total of 16 people who were praying in the mosque were killed. We took their bodies from the mosque.”