Bandits in Nigeria ambush and kill 21 government-backed fighters | Conflict News

Convoy of pro-government fighters was returning from a funeral when they came under fire from bandits in Katsina State.

At least 21 government-backed fighters have been killed in an ambush by bandits in Nigeria’s northwest Katsina State, according to authorities.

Katsina police spokesman Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu told the AFP news agency on Saturday that a convoy of pro-government fighters was returning from paying condolences to the family of a dead colleague when it came under fire from bandits in the village of Baure, in the Safana district.

“Sadly, 21 persons were fatally shot as a result of the attack,” Aliyu said, adding police were seeking to “ensure the arrest of the perpetrators” of the attack, which happened on Tuesday.

Witnesses, however, told Nigeria’s Premium Times that as many as 25 people were killed in the attack, while many more villagers remain missing.

Nigeria’s The Guardian said the fighters were members of the state-backed Katsina Community Watch Corps (KCWC).

The newspaper also quoted Aliyu as saying police have been deployed to the area of the attack to help restore order.

Katsina is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria plagued by bandits who raid villages, killing and abducting residents as well as burning and looting homes.

In June 2024, at least seven people were killed and 100 kidnapped when gunmen attacked a rural community in the state.

The gangs, who maintain camps in a huge forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states, have earned notoriety for mass kidnappings of students from schools in recent years.

Nigeria’s Boko Haram group has also carried out attacks and abductions in the state.

In 2023, Katsina State Governor Dikko Umar Radda established the KCWC force comprising about 2,000 people to assist the military and police in fighting the gangs.