MAIDUGURI / TARABA - The death toll from the gunmen attack on Binnari village in Karim Lamido Local Government Area of Nigeria's Taraba State has risen to 48, the Taraba State Police Command confirmed on Sunday (October 25), BusinessDay reported. Police Public Relations Officer Victor Mshelizah told BusinessDay that 10 people were killed on the first day of the attack on Friday, while 38 others died or were found dead on Saturday - 23 whose bodies were recovered from the bush and 15 residents who drowned in a boat mishap while escaping the attackers.

Source: BusinessDay, Oct 25

Mshelizah said the boat may have been carrying more passengers than its capacity and that a shortage of life jackets contributed to the 15 drowning deaths, BusinessDay reported. He said officers were deployed immediately after the attack was reported and additional personnel were sent to the area on Sunday morning to reinforce security, adding that calm had returned to the community.

Source: BusinessDay, Oct 25

48Death toll confirmed by Taraba State police on Sunday - 10 killed Friday, 23 bodies recovered from the bush, 15 drowned in the boat mishap
52Deaths Amnesty International's Nigeria director Isa Sanusi said the organisation had confirmed from sources on the ground - the toll remains contested
~50 motorcyclesHow community leader Malam Abubakar Saifullahi told AFP the attackers arrived - two armed men on each motorcycle
Up to 4 hoursHow long residents said the Friday rampage lasted after midday prayers

The figures remain contested. Amnesty International's Nigeria director Isa Sanusi said his organisation had confirmed 52 deaths, citing sources on the ground and members of the local community, the BBC reported. Separately, Binnari resident Bashir Mamuda Musa told AFP the community had found seven bodies on Friday and another 43 in the river on Saturday, putting the total at 50, according to AFP reporting carried by Sweden Herald. Police had initially reported only 10 deaths after the raid.

Source: BBC via Newsline24 / AFP via Sweden Herald, Oct 25

How the attack unfolded

The attack began on Friday afternoon shortly after Muslim Juma'at prayers, when armed men invaded Binnari in large numbers, residents and police said. Community leader Malam Abubakar Saifullahi told AFP the attackers arrived on about 50 motorcycles, two armed men on each, opened fire indiscriminately, looted cash, food and provisions from shops, took motorcycles abandoned by fleeing residents, and set houses, shops and food stores ablaze. Survivor Isiyaku Musa told AFP: 'People were running in different directions to escape the attack. Nobody knew where it was safe to go.'

Source: AFP via Sweden Herald / The World News AM, Oct 25

Amnesty International has called for an impartial investigation into the killings, accusing the authorities of leaving rural communities 'at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly committing atrocities with impunity', the BBC reported. Northern Nigeria has faced repeated attacks by heavily armed criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, who raid villages, abduct residents for ransom and steal livestock across remote terrain where police and military forces struggle to operate.

Source: BBC via Newsline24, Oct 25

Awaaz Punjab reported the attack on Sunday morning, when the toll was still disputed between police, residents and Amnesty International. Read the earlier report