The Senate has called for urgent deployment of additional security personnel and the establishment of security camps along the borders of Taraba, Plateau and Bauchi states following a bandit attack that reportedly killed about 80 people in Taraba State.
The attack occurred in Binari community, Karim-Lamido Local Government Area, prompting Senator Isa Shuaibu Lau, representing Taraba North, to seek urgent intervention to halt further killings and restore security to affected communities.
Moving the motion, Lau warned that the killings had triggered fear and displacement, stressing that the growing threat posed by armed bandits to rural communities required immediate government action.
He cautioned that failure to address the insecurity could lead to further loss of lives, destruction of property and worsening humanitarian conditions.
Seconding the motion, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, representing Borno North, described call as timely, insisting that protecting lives and property remained the government’s foremost responsibility.
“The primary purpose of governance is to protect the lives and property of the people,” Monguno said.
The Senate subsequently adopted prayers urging security agencies to deploy more personnel and establish additional security camps to strengthen surveillance along the Taraba-Plateau-Bauchi borders.
The lawmakers also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the North East Development Commission (NEDC) to urgently provide relief materials to communities affected by the attack.
The assault, which took place during the afternoon of Friday, October 23, 2026, has been described by human rights organisations and local authorities as a massacre.
While the Taraba State Police Command initially confirmed 10 fatalities, subsequent rescue operations drastically adjusted the figures upwards as more bodies were pulled from nearby bushes and a local river.
Police and local rescue officials on Monday confirmed the recovery of at least 58 bodies, including 15 residents, mostly women and children who tragically drowned when a canoe capsized while they were trying to flee across the river.
Amnesty International Nigeria reported a death toll of at least 52, noting that some bodies were burned beyond recognition.
The media reported that the heavily armed attackers stormed the community on Friday shortly after Juma’at prayers, targeting the community on its weekly market day.
Witnesses stated that the assailants operated freely for nearly four hours without any security personnel arriving at the scene. In addition to indiscriminate shooting, the gunmen reportedly looted cash, food supplies, and markets before setting fire to homes, stores, and vehicles.