KANO, Nigeria, June 26, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Government-sponsored vigilantes in northwest Nigeria killed more than 100 gang members in a gun battle earlier this week, a local official said late Wednesday.

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs locally known as "bandits" have been intensifying attacks in rural areas northwest and central Nigeria with little state presence, killing thousands and conducting kidnappings for ransom.

Although bandits have no ideological leanings and are motivated by financial gains, their increasing alliance with jihadists from the northeast has been a source of concern for authorities and security analysts.

Members of Zamfara Civilian Protection Guard (CPG), a state-backed militia, stormed the stronghold of Bello Turji, a notorious "bandit" kingpin, said Ahmad Manga, security adviser to the state governor of Zamfara.

They engaged his fighters in an hours-long gun battle that left scores dead, he added.

The CPG were supported by Nigeria's secret police (DSS) and militia members invited by the state government from northeastern Borno, where they are assisting the military in fighting jihadist groups, Manga said.

"The coalition took the fight to Turji's stronghold in Shinkafi district where he lost more than 100 fighters in the battle," Manga said.

The attack was led by Bashari Maniya, a former bandit who is now assisting the government, he said, adding that the attack "was aimed at getting Turji, dead or alive".

A security source confirmed the incident, saying Turji had learned about the plans in advance and invited fighters from other bandit camps to fight off the attack.

"It will be hard to give an exact number, but the toll is quite huge" on the bandits' side, the source said.

At least 20 vigilantes and militia were killed in the fight, including Maniya, both Manga and the security source said.

- Bandit kingpin -

In an online video seen by an AFP reporter on Tuesday, Turji was seen celebrating with his men over bodies of at least nine vigilantes and militia members killed in the fight.

Turji also identified one of the bodies as "Bashir Maniya" in the video, in an apparent reference to the former bandit leader.

Bandit violence in Nigeria has evolved from clashes between Fulani herders and farmers over resources in the impoverished country into a broader conflict fuelled by arms trafficking.

Increasing cooperation between the criminal gangs in the northwest and jihadists in the northeast has seen attacks get worse.

Turji, 31, dumped herding for cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom in 2011 in his native Shinkafi town, terrorising communities in Zamfara and neighbouring Sokoto state.

The kingpin had made several peace agreements with Zamfara state authorities only to renege later.

In February 2021 Turji appeared in a widely circulated video threatening to invite foreign gangs to destabilize Nigeria.

He has survived several military offensives, including airstrikes on his camps in December 2021 that killed his brother and other family members.