At least 50 bandits have been killed after a local vigilante group at Ibbi town in Niger State mobilised and carried out an offensive.
According to Leadership Newspaper, the bandits have been terrorising and kidnapping residents for ransom before the vigilante members struck.
It was learnt that vigilante members launched the attack on the bandits and destroyed their camps at the bottom of a mountain within Kainji National Park, following the abduction of 12 people from the community about two weeks ago.
A source from the community said the vigilante group, with support from their colleagues from Niger South, went after the bandits in a raid that started from four days to yesterday. During the raid, the vigilantes were said to have lost two of their men, while the bandits killed nine of the 12 people in the captivity.
Among the nine killed was a Sharia Court registrar abducted around Ibbi in Mashegu local government area of Niger State.
The source said, “While the bandits were waiting to receive the ransom on the 12 people they had abducted, the vigilantes struck, killing no fewer than 50 of the bandits. Annoyed by the attack, the bandits killed nine (of their hostages) and three others escaped unhurt.
“Among those killed was the registrar of the Sharia Court in Ibbi; about six women and three men, but three other men were able to escape from the bandits. As I am talking to you now, the vigilantes have destroyed their camps and chased them out of the national park.”
He added that the vigilantes dumped the bodies of the bandits at the Kainji National Park.
A resident of Ibbi, Abdul Ahmed, told LEADERSHIP that some bandits had recently taken over some unmanned parts of the National Park, from where they launched attacks on the people of the area.
He said the incessant attacks prompted the vigilante groups from other parts of the state to join forces with the local unit in flushing out the bandits, killing no fewer than 50 of them, and that, unfortunately, the terrorists killed nine of the 12 villagers in their custody.
When contacted, the telephone number of the Niger State commissioner of internal security, Emmanuel Umar, could not be reached, but a senior official confirmed that the operation of the vigilante had the backing of the authorities.
Also, the police public relations officer, Niger State Command, Wasiu Abiodun, did not respond to calls by press time, but a senior officer of the command, who preferred anonymity, confirmed that vigilantes were engaged in complementary operations in and around Ibbi and the National Park area.
The officer said that, as usual, the police would usually provide cover for the vigilante during such operations, which was what they did in Ibbi.