A gang of livestock thieves in Nigeria’s troubled north ambushed and killed 41 vigilantes in the forest, who had mobilized from several villages in the Bakori district of Katsina state to track down a gang that stole livestock from a local resident the day before.
Katsina State Police spokesman Gambo Isa said the thieves staged an ambush Friday night that left 41 people dead and two wounded. According to him, the militants were armed with Kalashnikovs.
“The hooligans shot 41 yansakai (lynchers) and wounded two,” he said, adding that their bodies were found. “A joint operation is currently underway to bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said.
Local residents reported that 52 people were killed in an attack in the Yargodzhe forest in the neighboring Kankarinsky district. “In the period from Thursday to Friday, the police went to the forest and brought 52 bodies of vigilantes in two batches,” said Idris Usman. He said dozens of other vigilantes were also taken to the hospital with injuries.
Another local resident, Abdullahi Sada, gave exact casualties, saying the attackers were from the neighboring state of Zamfara.
Katsina is among several states in the northwest. Central Nigeria is being terrorized by gangs that raid villages, kill villagers, kidnap for ransom, steal livestock and burn houses after they have been looted. The units maintain camps in a vast forest spanning the states of Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger.
The southern part of Katsina, including Bakori and Kankara, is close to the border with Zamfara and has been repeatedly attacked by gangs based in the neighboring state.
Bandits kidnapped more than 300 schoolchildren in Kankar in December 2021. The disciples were taken to Zamfara and released after paying a ransom.
Local communities then formed vigilante groups to deal with gang attacks. However, state officials have outlawed the militia due to a lack of basic security training, which they say put them in unnecessary danger.
“This unfortunate death of these vigilantes was the result of them taking the laws into their own (own) hands,” Ibrahim Ahmad Katsina, the governor’s security adviser, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “We have told the communities not to go after the terrorists when they attack them, but to immediately inform the security services,” he added.
