No fewer than 17 people have been confirmed dead after suspected armed bandits invaded a mosque in an early morning attack in two villages located in Niger State

Secretary to the State Government, Ahmed Ma-tane, while confirming the incident to newsmen explained that the gunmen killed 16 people in a mosque in Maza-Ku-ka and another one person in Ka-boji village.

The assailants, he said, stormed Maza-Ku-ka in a long convoy on motorcycles and made straight to the mosque where they started shooting sporadically to scare the people.

Those who rushed out of the Mosque were reportedly gunned down while others trapped in the mosque were also shot at close range and left in their pools of blood.

It was gathered that many, who were scampering for safety, sustained various degrees of injuries.

While the attack left three others injured, the whereabouts of about 18 villagers are unknown. They were said to have been abducted by the gunmen.

He added that the state Government had already dispatched a team of Military personnel to comb the area.

Meanwhile, the state police command said that the incident was understood to be a reprisal attack resulting from a long-standing communal feud.