Nigeria says army has killed 300 bandits in north-western state of Zamfara | Nigeria
Nigerian soldiers killed more than 300 kidnappers and cattle bandit gang members in the northwestern state of Zamfara this week, according to a government official.
Zamfara’s information commissioner, Mahmud Muhammad Dantawasa, said in a statement that Nigerian government troops targeted gangs in the Gummi district in a two-day operation, which “led to the elimination of more than 300 terrorists.”
Gangs of cattle thieves and jihadists terrorize communities in northern and central Nigeria, plundering farmers’ land, stealing cattle and kidnapping people for ransom. They also impose taxes on farmers who want to access their lands through protection blackmail.
Jihadists and criminal gangs have been cooperating in recent years, according to security analysts, who say common interests overlap. While criminal gangs have become widespread in poor rural parts of Nigeria, jihadists have continued to wage an insurgency in the north of the country for 17 years. Both are invested in a weak central government.
Local residents of Gummi said soldiers and local vigilantes launched a campaign against about 1,000 bandits who were stealing livestock on Wednesday night.
“Soldiers and lawbreakers killed more than 300 bandits in fighting that raged all night and the next morning,” Abubakar Muhammad told Agency France-Presse.
Residents said soldiers tried to attack the bandit camp two weeks ago but were outnumbered and had to retreat.
The Zamfara government said the operation was a significant breakthrough in the fight to restore order in the state.
Nigeria faces a series of security crises due to the Islamist insurgency of Boko Haram and its rival, the Islamic State West Africa Region.
The government has killed jihadists in recent months in partnership with the United States, which has sent hundreds of soldiers to the country to support the fight against Islamists. A joint US-Nigeria operation in May killed the Islamic State’s second-in-command and nearly 200 fighters in a remote village in northeastern Nigeria.
Nigeria also struggles with general lawlessness and banditry fueled by poverty. Jihadists and bandits have long used mass kidnappings of primary school children to obtain ransoms and meet other demands.
The military said Saturday it suffered casualties during the rescue of more than 40 students kidnapped by what authorities said were jihadists. The incident created a shock effect because it took place in the southwestern part of the country, which was previously thought to be relatively safe.
