{"id":30300,"date":"2026-01-25T04:33:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T09:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=30300"},"modified":"2026-01-25T04:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T09:33:26","slug":"operation-against-nigerian-kidnapping-gang-kills-200-bandits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2026\/01\/25\/operation-against-nigerian-kidnapping-gang-kills-200-bandits\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation against Nigerian kidnapping gang kills &#8216;200 bandits&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ssrcss-suhx0k-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5p6v2-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">More than 200 suspected members of an armed criminal gang in central Nigeria have been killed in an ongoing operation, an official has told the BBC.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The large-scale, multi-agency offensive started on Saturday and had also led to arrests, the media officer for the Kogi state government said &#8211; without specifying a number.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Footage shared with the BBC by the Kogi police, filmed from a helicopter, shows flames raging from one settlement in a densely forested area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For years, members of criminal gangs &#8211; known locally as bandits &#8211; have carried out killings and kidnappings for ransom, mainly targeting those in the north-west &#8211; but they have been moving to other parts of the country more recently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-suhx0k-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5p6v2-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">This operation follows a surge in mass abductions, including attacks on schools, which have sparked nationwide outrage and prompted the government to intensify security efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Last month, the authorities secured the release of the remaining pupils and teachers kidnapped in November from a boarding school in Niger state, which borders Kogi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-bq6git-ComponentWrapper ep2nwvo2\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<ul class=\"ssrcss-94r6ik-Stack e1y4nx260\" role=\"list\">\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-ire9v9-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c4g4jlgdyjdo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">The kidnap gangs, jihadists and separatists wreaking havoc in Nigeria<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-ire9v9-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c4g6we59qe4o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Nigerian villagers &#8216;too scared to speak&#8217; after hundreds of schoolchildren kidnapped<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-suhx0k-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5p6v2-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Several bandit camps were destroyed during co-ordinated operations over the weekend involving the different arms of the country&#8217;s security and paramilitary forces, Kingsley Fanwo, Kogi state&#8217;s commissioner for information, said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But efforts to hunt down those who had fled were being hampered as they were using some of the civilians they had abducted for ransom as human shields, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Security forces have put them in disarray wherever they try to regroup,&#8221; Fanwo told the BBC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;The only problem is that the bandits have kidnapped several individuals which they are using as human shields, knowing that the security forces wouldn&#8217;t want to kill the hostages along with the bandits.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Kogi state has increasingly emerged as an insecurity hotspot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Its location &#8211; linking Nigeria&#8217;s north and south through dense forest corridors &#8211; has made it attractive to armed groups operating across state boundaries, security officials say.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Security expert Bashir Galma, a retired army major, told the BBC the Kogi offensive follows a recent directive by President Bola Tinubu to top security officials to intensify efforts against the bandits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The number of causalities quoted might well be exaggerated &#8220;considering there is no proof&#8221; and as politicians try to curry favour with a year to go until elections, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;But at the same time, it&#8217;s a surprise attack &#8211; so a large number of them might have been killed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">As well as kidnapping gangs, Nigeria faces an array of other complex security issues including an Islamist insurgency, clashes over land and separatist unrest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">On Tuesday, the US military tweeted a photo of a plane with &#8220;critical military supplies&#8221; being unloaded in Nigeria&#8217;s capital, Abuja.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The US Africa Command&#8217;s post on X said\u00a0<a class=\"ssrcss-6mgqu7-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/usafricacommand\/status\/2011028079141871828?s=46\">the delivery supported &#8220;Nigeria&#8217;s<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/usafricacommand\/status\/2011028079141871828?s=46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ongoing operations&#8221; and emphasised its &#8220;shared security partnership&#8221;<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The US has recently become militarily involved in Nigeria &#8211; launching some airstrikes on Christmas Day on two camps run by an Islamist militant group in north-western Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Last week, US President Donald Trump warned of more strikes if Christians continued to be killed in the West African nation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">There are more than 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria, which is roughly divided into a mainly Muslim north, a largely Christian south, with intermingling in the middle &#8211; and the government says people of all faiths have been victims of attacks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Last week, a foreign ministry spokesman responded to Trump&#8217;s warning saying that Nigeria would continue to engage constructively with partners such as the US.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8221;Nigeria remains committed to protecting all citizens, Christians and Muslims alike, without discrimination,&#8221; Alkasim Abdulkadir said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><i class=\"ssrcss-xbdn93-ItalicText e5tfeyi2\">Additional reporting by Mansur Abubakar in Abuja<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1kjkxlc-EmbedMaxColumnWidthContainer edssjzk0\" data-component=\"idt-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1q8vk0s-IdtMaxColumnWidthWrapper e9o73r50\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1xy12lo-IdtWrapper e9o73r52\" data-idt-type=\"idt-map\">\n<div data-component=\"include-html\">\n<div class=\"sc-brqgnP kZgeZO renderReady\" data-uuid=\"9861accc-bfb3-449d-9476-58cfac2b0ad4\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c.files.bbci.co.uk\/assets\/9861accc-bfb3-449d-9476-58cfac2b0ad4_wide_fallback\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-bq6git-ComponentWrapper ep2nwvo2\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1a3wt72-Heading e10rt3ze0\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cevn0ezr0rgo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">More than 200 suspected members of an armed criminal gang in central Nigeria have been killed in an ongoing operation, an official has told the BBC. The large-scale, multi-agency offensive started on Saturday and had <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2026\/01\/25\/operation-against-nigerian-kidnapping-gang-kills-200-bandits\/\" title=\"Operation against Nigerian kidnapping gang kills &#8216;200 bandits&#8217;\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[7385,11530,12037,2635,12035,12034,12036,12038,11599,2349,8803],"class_list":{"0":"post-30300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-world","9":"tag-abuja","10":"tag-criminal-gangs","11":"tag-human-shields","12":"tag-kidnapping","13":"tag-kogi-police","14":"tag-kogi-state","15":"tag-mass-abduction","16":"tag-militant-group","17":"tag-niger-state","18":"tag-nigeria","19":"tag-ransom-demand","20":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30302,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30300\/revisions\/30302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}