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From John Adams, Minna
No fewer than 64 people were killed in a gun duel between bandits and local vigilantes in the Ibbi community in Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State last weekend.
Daily Sun gathered that local vigilantes, numbering well over 300, engaged a group of bandits in a fierce gun battle at the Ibbi community with over 50 of the bandits killed.
Majority of the bandits killed were from Zamfara State, who were said to be on a revenge mission to the Ibbi community, following the alleged killing of their members by the vigilantes.
A group of bandits had attacked Ibbi town three weeks ago, where they sacked a police post, kidnapped two policemen and about 12 civilians. Two vigilantes were also killed in the attack and others injured after a gun battle with the bandits.
A source close to the community said the vigilantes later regrouped and invaded the Ibbi forest, with a view to rescuing those abducted by the gunmen, and this led to heavy casualties on the side of the bandits. Nine of the abductees were reportedly killed by the bandits when the heat was on them.
Although it was not clear whether the two policemen abducted alongside the civilians were among those killed, three people, including a woman, escaped to freedom. It was gathered that after the encounter with the vigilantes, the bandits, who were being held hostage in the forest, requested assistance from their colleagues in Zamfara who came on a reprisal mission.
A source close to the Ibbi community said: “Unfortunately, the bandits from Zamfara did not know their way to Ibbi and were asking some villagers around the Masakuka village for directions, so the people immediately alerted the vigilantes at Ibbi.
“The vigilantes immediately called for more reinforcement from the neighbouring community, including the “high level vigilantes” in the area and about 300 of them went to the forest and ambushed the invading bandits. I can confirm to you that over 50 of them were killed in the forest. Many others escaped with injuries because they were over 100, but we lost some members of the vigilantes, while others sustained gunshot injuries,” our source said.
Our source disclosed further that the body of a retired forest guard with the Kainji National Park, who was among those killed by the bandits was recovered on Sunday evening and buried on the spot due to the condition.
When contacted on the development, the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Umar, said he was aware of the activities of bandits in the area in recent times, but was yet to get the details of the encounter with the local vigilantes. He, however, expressed great concern over the continuous activities of the bandits across the state, especially the killings and abductions of local villagers, the recent being the abduction of over 57 people from Adunu and other communities in Paikoro local government area of the state.
While five of the abductees were summarily executed by the bandits to put pressure on the communities to pay the ransom, 11 others were released after payment of an undisclosed amount of money, leaving about 35 still in captivity. The bandits, it was gathered, have requested for one motorcycle for the release of each of the victims.
