Cattle thieves kill 41 vigilantes in Nigeria’s north

A gang of cattle thieves has killed 41 vigilantes in
Nigeria’s troubled north in a forest ambush, police said.

The incident happened on Thursday in Katsina state when
scores of vigilantes from several villages in the Bakori district mobilised to
track down the gang, which had stolen cattle from a local the previous day.

Katsina state police spokesman Gambo Isah said late Friday
the vigilantes were ambushed by the thieves, who killed 41 and injured two
others.

“The hoodlums shot and killed 41 Yansakai (vigilantes)
and wounded two,” he said, adding that their bodies had been recovered.

“A joint security operation is currently ongoing with a
view to bringing the perpetrators to book,” he added.

Local residents said 52 people had been killed in the attack
in the Yargoje forest in the neighbouring Kankara district.

“The police went into the forest between Thursday and
Friday and brought 52 bodies of the vigilantes in two batches,” Idris
Usman said.

He said dozens of other vigilantes were also brought to the
hospital with injuries.

Another local, Abdullahi Sada, gave the same toll, saying
the attackers were from neighbouring Zamfara state.

Katsina is among several states in the northwest and central
Nigeria terrorised by criminal gangs who raid villages, kill residents, kidnap
for ransom, steal cattle and burn homes after looting them.

The gangs maintain camps in a vast forest straddling the
states of Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger.

The southern part of Katsina, including Bakori and Kankara,
lies near the border with Zamfara and has been repeatedly targeted by
gangs based in the adjoining state.

More than 300 schoolboys were kidnapped by bandits in
Kankara in December 2021. The pupils were taken to Zamfara and released after the ransom was paid.

Local communities then formed vigilante groups to fight
attacks by criminal gangs.

But the militia was outlawed by state authorities for lack
of basic security training which, they say, exposes them to unnecessary danger.

“This unfortunate loss of lives of these vigilantes was
the result of taking laws into their (own) hands,” Ibrahim Ahmad Katsina,
security adviser to the governor told AFP.

“We have told communities not to go after terrorists
when they attack them but to promptly inform security agencies,” he added.