Key takeaways
- Residents told AFP that vigilantes ambushed an armed gang in Zoma, Zamfara State, on 12 November, leaving more than 50 dead.
- The village chief says 44 gang members and nine vigilantes died, and police said they had yet to receive details.
- A resident asked the authorities to give the vigilantes guns and ammunition, saying the gangs use sophisticated weapons.
- Vigilante groups have been accused by herders of abuses elsewhere, so arming local groups is contested and could feed reprisals.
Residents of Zoma village in Bukkuyum district, Zamfara State, northwestern Nigeria, say more than 50 people died on Thursday 12 November when local vigilantes ambushed an armed gang passing through. They gave the account to AFP (Agence France-Presse) on Saturday 14 November. According to the residents, the gang had first kidnapped several people in the neighbouring Gummi district.
A traditional village chief, who asked not to be named for his safety, told AFP that the vigilantes killed 44 gang members and lost nine of their own. Two other Zoma residents gave AFP the same account. A Zamfara state police spokesman said the force had yet to receive details of the clashes.
What residents say happened
The chief said villagers were warned that the gang was heading their way. "We were alerted that the bandits were heading our way, so our vigilantes laid in wait for the bandits and engaged them in a fierce gunfight," he told AFP. "Bandits" is the local term for the armed gangs behind kidnapping and cattle theft across northwestern Nigeria.
He said: "Our vigilantes killed 44 of the bandits … we also lost nine vigilantes in the fight." He added that a gang commander named Jijji, whom he called notorious and said had led the kidnapping, was among the dead, according to AFP's account of the chief's remarks. That detail rests on the chief's word alone.
Two other residents, Kabiru Tafida and Basiru Buhari, gave AFP the same account of the clashes and the toll. All three live in the same village, so their accounts are not independent of one another. Daily Sabah's listing of the AFP report described the toll as "Over 50", which matches 44 plus nine.
AFP gave no number, names or whereabouts for the people kidnapped in Gummi. Nothing in the reporting says whether they were freed. AFP noted that news of bandit attacks in remote areas is usually slow to emerge because of poor telecommunications and distance. Buhari asked for help in plain terms: "We call on the authorities to provide our vigilantes with guns and ammunition to fight these bandits who use sophisticated weapons."
Observers are reading: How the Zoma account sits against the military's 13 November statement and a promised deployment on the same road corridor.
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Background and what to watch
AFP describes Zamfara as one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria where kidnapping-for-ransom and cattle-rustling gangs raid villages, kill and abduct residents and burn homes. It traces banditry to conflicts between herders and farmers over land and water, made worse by climate change and population growth. AFP also reported that bandits set fire to a home in Zamfara last week, killing a family of 12, and that more than 80 people, mostly women, were kidnapped in Zamfara and Niger states in September, according to security reports seen by AFP and a local source.
Crisis Zone reported in February that at least 50 people died in Dutsin Dan Ajiya, Zamfara, where residents said they had warned security forces beforehand. In March, nine soldiers and one police officer died in a Kebbi State ambush. AFP says insecurity is a major issue as President Bola Tinubu seeks a second term in January polls.
Three things would clarify Zoma: official confirmation of the toll, the fate of the Gummi abductees, and any response from the authorities to the call to arm the vigilantes.
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