Government-sponsored vigilantes in the northwest state of Zamfara killed more than 100 bandits in a gun battle earlier this week, a local official disclosed late Wednesday.

According to AFP reports, the Zamfara Civilian Protection Guard (CPG), a state-backed vigilance group, stormed the stronghold of Bello Turji, a notorious bandit kingpin that had been carrying out a deadly campaign of kidnapping, killings and destruction in the rural areas of Northwest Nigeria.

Security Adviser to the governor of Zamfara, Ahmad Manga, who confirmed the attack on Turji’s stronghold, said fight between the government-backed vigilantes and the bandits left scores dead.

Manga said the vigilantes were supported by Nigeria’s security forces and other militia members invited by the Zamfara state government from northeastern Borno, where they are assisting the military in fighting jihadist groups.

“The coalition took the fight to Turji’s stronghold in Shinkafi district where he lost more than 100 fighters in the battle,” the governor’s security adviser said.

The attack which was aimed at getting Turji, dead or alive, was led by Bashari Maniya, a former bandit who was now assisting the government.
At least 20 vigilantes and militia were said to have been killed in the fight, including Maniya, both Manga and a security source disclosed.

“It will be hard to give an exact number, but the toll is quite huge” on the bandits’ side, the source said.

Turji had learned about the plans in advance and invited fighters from other bandit camps to fight off the attack, a security source was quoted.

Turji was seen celebrating with his men over bodies of at least nine vigilantes and militia members killed in the fight, according to AFP – citing an online video seen by its reporter.

The report said Turji identified one of the bodies as “Bashir Maniya” in the video, in an apparent reference to the former bandit leader.

Bandit violence in Nigeria has evolved from clashes between Fulani herders and farmers over resources in the impoverished country into a broader conflict fuelled by arms trafficking.

Increasing cooperation between the criminal gangs in the northwest and jihadists in the northeast has seen attacks get worse.

Turji, 31, dumped herding for cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom in 2011 in his native Shinkafi town, terrorising communities in Zamfara and neighbouring Sokoto state.

The kingpin had made several peace agreements with Zamfara state authorities only to renege later. In February 2021, Turji appeared in a widely circulated video threatening to invite foreign gangs to destabilize Nigeria.

In 2022, the bandit gang led by Turji carried out a series of massacres in Zamfara, resulting in the deaths of nearly 200 innocent people, including women and children.

He has survived several military offensives, including airstrikes on his camps in December 2021 that killed his brother and other family members.