Nigeria says 300 bandits killed in northwest operation

Nigerian security forces have eliminated at least 300 bandits during a significant operation in the northwestern state of Zamfara. The two-day operation, conducted between Wednesday and Thursday, targeted a large group of criminals attempting to move through the Gumi area.

According to Yazidi Abubakar, the police spokesperson for Zamfara, the bandits, numbering approximately 1,000, were ambushed by a combined force of soldiers, police, and local paramilitary groups. The criminals were reportedly traveling in a convoy of motorcycles from their forest stronghold when the security forces intercepted them.

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We eliminated no less than 300 bandits during a special operation carried out by the security forces, including soldiers, police, and local paramilitary groups, between Wednesday and Thursday.

Mahmud Muhammad Dantawasa, the Commissioner of Information and Culture for Zamfara, praised the armed forces for their successful operation. He described it as a "significant advance in the fight against banditry and other violent crimes that threaten the peace, security, and socioeconomic development of Zamfara state and the Northwest region."

Banditry, characterized by mass assaults and kidnappings for ransom, is a persistent problem in several Nigerian states, particularly in the center and northwest. This insecurity is compounded by the activities of jihadist groups like Boko Haram and its splinter faction, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), in the northeast, as well as groups like Lakurawa in the northwest.

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a significant advance in the fight against banditry and other violent crimes that threaten the peace, security and socioeconomic development of Zamfara state and the Northwest region.