ABUJA, Nigeria (BN24) — Nigerian security forces have killed at least 30 gunmen in a counteroffensive following coordinated armed attacks on villages in the country’s volatile northwest, officials said Thursday.
The joint operation by police and military units was launched Wednesday after hundreds of heavily armed assailants stormed several communities the previous evening, according to Nasir Mua’zu, commissioner for home affairs in Sokoto State.
Three police officers and two soldiers were killed during the clashes, Mua’zu said in a statement.
“We are working tirelessly with federal security agencies to ensure the safety of all citizens,” he said, vowing sustained efforts to push back armed gangs that have repeatedly targeted rural areas.
The northwest and north-central regions of Nigeria have seen a surge in attacks in recent months, with armed groups carrying out raids on villages and highways. Authorities say hundreds of people have been killed or injured.
Many of the assailants, often referred to as bandits, are organized groups that evolved from clashes between nomadic herders and farming communities. Over time, the groups have grown into powerful criminal networks, profiting from kidnappings for ransom and extortion.
Analysts say the limited security presence across Nigeria’s mineral-rich northwest has emboldened dozens of gangs to impose their own control over large swaths of territory.
The country is also grappling with a long-running insurgency in the northeast, where extremist violence has killed more than 35,000 people and displaced over 2 million, according to United Nations figures.
