BAUCHI, Nigeria — Armed bandits ambushed a local security patrol in Nigeria’s Bauchi state early Sunday, killing at least 19 people and stealing livestock in a brutal raid that underscores growing insecurity in the country’s northeast, police and residents said Monday.
The attack occurred around dawn in Gwana district, part of Alkaleri Local Government Area, where heavily armed gunmen laid a deadly ambush on members of a vigilante group responding to threats in the area. Several civilians from nearby villages were also killed as they attempted to flee the violence, authorities confirmed.
In a statement, Bauchi State Police Commissioner Sani-Omolori Aliyu said a tactical response unit was dispatched to the scene, where officers recovered the bodies of those killed. “A team of operational tactical teams was dispatched to the scene, where they recovered bodies of casualties,” Aliyu said.
The deadly raid is the latest in a series of violent incursions by armed criminal gangs — widely referred to as bandits — that have plagued rural communities across northern and central Nigeria, conducting mass abductions, killings, and livestock thefts with impunity.
According to Ibrahim Hussaini, a local eyewitness, a firefight erupted between the vigilantes and the assailants, resulting in multiple casualties among the security volunteers and residents caught in the crossfire.
“They came in large numbers and opened fire. Our people tried to defend themselves, but the bandits overpowered them,” Hussaini said.
Mohammed Umar, a member of the local vigilante force, said the attackers made away with a substantial number of cattle and sheep after overwhelming the defenders. “They rustled a large number of livestock and disappeared into the forest,” he told Reuters via phone.
Officials have not released the exact number of animals taken, but residents estimate the losses run into the hundreds, further crippling an already vulnerable agricultural community.
While Nigeria’s northwest remains the epicenter of banditry, with states like Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina frequently targeted, Sunday’s assault highlights the spread of such violence into northeastern territories traditionally affected by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgents.
Unlike jihadist militants, bandit gangs are primarily motivated by profit — engaging in livestock theft, kidnapping-for-ransom, and extortion. However, both groups exploit the government’s limited presence in rural areas, allowing them to operate with growing sophistication and brutality.
The Nigerian military and police have launched repeated operations to root out bandit strongholds in recent years, but results have been mixed, with civilians often bearing the brunt of retaliatory attacks.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for Sunday’s ambush, and authorities say investigations are ongoing.
