ABUJA - At least 62 people have been killed after gunmen attacked a community in northeastern Nigeria, the country's emergency agency said on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. The attack, reportedly carried out by criminals known as bandits, happened on Friday in the Binnari community in the Karim-Lamido local government area of Taraba state, and also wounded 52 other people and displaced thousands, according to Ladan Ayuba, the state head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
NEMA officials said 52 bodies have been recovered so far, including 15 from the Benue River, AP reported. A Taraba police spokesperson, Victor Mshelizah, told AP the figure is not definite as more bodies are still being recovered: 'We still have men on the ground, and the more we recover bodies, we will put them in account.' The Business Standard, citing the same NEMA update, likewise reported at least 62 killed and 52 injured, with thousands displaced.
Amnesty International Nigeria director Isa Sanusi told AP the gunmen used the river to their advantage. 'What happened was that people were chased towards the river, they launched into the river trying to escape the bandits,' Sanusi said. News Central TV also reported the updated NEMA toll of 62 on Tuesday.
Source: News Central TV, Oct 27, 2026 - Gunmen Kill 62 in Taraba Community Attack - NEMA
AP noted that attacks by bandits are common across northern Nigeria, where armed groups carry out attacks against civilian populations, and that Nigeria faces a complex security crisis in which civilians are regularly attacked by bandits who carry out large-scale kidnapping for ransom and control illegal mine sites, and also by Islamist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province. No group has been named by authorities as responsible for the Binnari attack beyond the description of the attackers as bandits.
Tuesday's NEMA toll - 62 killed, up from 48 reported earlier - makes Binnari one of the deadliest single community attacks in Nigeria this year, and the police warning that bodies are still being recovered means the count may rise again. The figures are the emergency agency's, reported by AP; they have not been independently verified on the ground.