Fear Grips Niger Residents as Bandits Wreck Havoc in SSG's HometownPAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! A recent attack by bandits in Matane, the hometown of the Secretary to the Niger state Government, Ahmed Matane, has left many in fear and shock. Daily Trust reports that the bandits unleashed mayhem on the community which has recorded several attacks in past. The report said that the yet to be identified bandits invaded the village at about 5 pm on Tuesday, March 1, setting shops, houses and other properties in the area ablaze. According to reports that attackers surrounded the community which is a few kilometres away from the Eastern Kontagorawere they struck. They were also said to have invaded Bamba-Lamba community. PAY ATTENTION: Subscribe to Digital Talk newsletter to receive must-know business stories and succeed BIG! A resident of Bamba-Lamba, Hashimu Ahmed said that he managed to escape to Kontagora town with his family when the incident occurred. Ahmed said: Confirming the incident, the state commissioner for local government, chieftaincy affairs and internal security, Emmanuel Umar, said several houses and shops including other properties in the area were burnt to ashes by the bandits. However, Umar stated that he could not confirm the actual number of casualties recorded from the attack. He added that the bandits had moved from one village to another burning properties and causing havoc. According to the commissioner, security operatives in the state are already on the trail of the bandits and have succeeded in blocking the Minna-Suleja Road in search of them. This, the commissioner assured has frustrated the bandits' efforts to leave the area as that blocked axis is their only escape route. Legit.ng previously reported that at least 22 people have been abducted by bandits in an attack on Idon community of Kajuru local government area of Kaduna state. According to the report, bandits in large numbers invaded the community and shot sporadically to scare people away leaving four persons sustaining varying degrees of injuries. The attackers in the early hours of Wednesday, February 13, broke doors and windows, forcing their victims from their sleep before taking them away to an unknown destination. Meanwhile, the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, on Thursday, February 3, said the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) had uncovered 96 financiers of Boko Haram and ISWAP. Mohammed at a briefing on the anti-corruption fight of President Muhammadu Buhari also revealed that the NFIU has exposed 424 associates/supporters of the financiers, 123 firms, and 33 bureaux de change linked with the insurgency. The minister disclosed that the agency had identified 26 suspected bandits, kidnappers and seven accomplices, adding that 45 of the suspects will soon be prosecuted. Source: Legit.ng Bandits operating Niger state have launched an attack in Matane, the hometown of the Secretary to the State government The bandits also move to a nearby town, Bamba-Lamba to continue its attack on residents of the area According to reports, the bandits succeeded in setting several houses, shops and other properties ablaze in these villages PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Subscribe to Digital Talk newsletter to receive must-know business stories and succeed BIG! Legit.ng “They surrounded the community. I was able to escape to Kontagora town with my family. They set our homes ablaze. We now live in an open place; we need help."