Nigerian army murders over one hundred criminal gang
(MENAFN) The Nigerian military reportedly killed more than 100 members of an armed criminal group during a combined air and ground operation over the weekend, according to a conflict monitoring report prepared for the United Nations.
Locally referred to as “bandits,” these armed groups have long terrorized communities in northwest and central Nigeria, carrying out village raids, abducting residents for ransom, and looting and burning homes.
The recent military operation targeted the Makakkari forest camp in the Bukkuyum local government area of Zamfara state. Conducted in the early hours of Sunday, fighter jets and ground troops coordinated to strike a gathering of over 400 bandits.
The report suggests the attack “may have occurred in response to consecutive banditry, especially kidnapping, in the state in the previous month,” noting a connection between a reduction in military activity in the area and an uptick in bandit attacks.
Just days prior, residents of Adabka village in Bukkuyum experienced a bandit assault that left 13 security personnel dead and several civilians kidnapped. The report stated that the bandits were planning another attack on a farming community when “air and ground troops ambushed a bandit camp... killing over 100.”
Attempts to obtain comments from a Nigerian army spokesperson were not successful.
The ongoing “banditry” crisis initially stemmed from disputes over land and water between herders and farmers but has escalated into organized crime. Gangs now routinely exploit rural areas, which often lack significant government presence, with cattle theft and kidnappings emerging as major sources of income for perpetrators in these impoverished regions.
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