Key Points
- Suspected terrorists stormed Debe village in Shanga Local Government Area on April 5, killing 24 people and burning a church, a mosque, homes and shops.
- The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora’s death toll of 24 sharply contradicts the Kebbi State Police Command’s earlier report of four fatalities.
- Nearly 500 displaced survivors are sheltering at a parish in Yauri, with the diocese warning that food, water and medical supplies are running critically short.
It was around 5 p.m. on Easter Sunday when armed men descended on Debe village in Kebbi State’s Shanga Local Government Area. By the time they left, 24 people were dead, a Catholic church and a mosque were in ashes, and hundreds of survivors were running.
That account comes not from the government, but from the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora, which issued a statement Thursday challenging the official narrative and calling on Nigeria and the international community to reckon with what happened.
“We want Nigeria and the international community to know what transpired in Debe,” the Diocese said. “The confirmed number of fatalities is 24, contrary to earlier police reports of four.”
A death toll the government undercounted
The Kebbi State Police Command had initially confirmed four deaths. The Diocese put the number at six times that figure, and it named the victims across religious lines: Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers all died in the attack.
“This is a tragedy against humanity, not a particular faith,” the Diocese said.
The attackers burned St. Mary’s Catholic Church and a nearby mosque. Residential homes, shops and market stalls were destroyed. The emir’s residence in a neighboring community was reportedly not spared either.
Security sources said the men were believed to have come from hideouts in the Wawa Forest in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, slipping across the border under cover of darkness.
The attack did not happen in isolation
Debe was not the first village to suffer. Days before the Easter Sunday assault, suspected bandits had launched coordinated night raids on Gebe, Kawara and Kalkami, all in the same Shanga local government area, razing homes and scattering residents.
The Kebbi State Police Command confirmed it had deployed tactical units, the military, marine police and local vigilantes in response. Whether that deployment arrived in time for any of the affected communities is a question the Diocese’s statement leaves pointedly unanswered.
Nearly 500 displaced, aid running thin
In the aftermath of the Debe attack, hundreds of survivors fled their homes. The Diocese says 491 internally displaced persons are now sheltering at St. Dominic Parish in Yauri, where the Church has been providing emergency assistance.
The situation there, it warns, is deteriorating.
“These displaced persons are in urgent need of food, clean water, medical care and adequate shelter,” the statement said, adding that existing support efforts are already overstretched.
Church calls on Tinubu, Kebbi governor
The Diocese directed its appeals directly at the highest levels of government, calling on President Bola Tinubu and Kebbi State Gov. Mohammed Idris to take decisive action to restore security and enable displaced persons to return home.
It described communities across the state as gripped by fear, with residents unable to bury their dead or begin rebuilding.
“People are being killed on a daily basis in Nigeria,” the statement said. “Communities in Kebbi State are now living in fear.”
The Church also called on humanitarian organizations and the international community to step in urgently, warning that without sustained intervention, the crisis will deepen.
The violence in Shanga LGA sits within a broader pattern of banditry and armed attacks targeting border communities between Kebbi and Niger states, where porous boundaries and dense forest cover have long provided cover for armed groups operating across both states.
