The Nigerian military killed over 100 armed gang members in a coordinated air and ground raid in Zamfara state’s Bukkuyum area early Sunday, a UN-linked conflict monitoring report said. Fighter jets and troops targeted a gathering of more than 400 “bandits” in Makakkari forest, disrupting a planned attack on a farming village.
The operation followed a surge in kidnappings and killings, including a Friday assault in Adabka village that left 13 security personnel dead.
These armed groups, rooted in farmer-herder disputes, have evolved into organised criminal networks involved in cattle rustling, ransom kidnappings, extortion, and looting. Their attacks have deepened food insecurity and malnutrition in northwest Nigeria, worsened by climate change and aid cuts.
Despite years of military campaigns and local militias, banditry persists and is spreading into central Nigeria, with increasing ties to jihadist groups in the northeast.
A same activity was carried out recently when Over 100 Killed in Overnight Attack on Nigerian Village, Amnesty Reports
