Three suspected bandits have been killed after members of a local vigilante group clashed with armed attackers in Bargaja village, located in Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
According to Daily Trust, the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday when the armed men reportedly stormed the community through a route on the outskirts of the village at about 1:30 a.m., allegedly intending to carry out an attack.
Sources within the community said the bandits carefully positioned themselves before launching the assault. Some of the attackers were said to have climbed trees around the village cemetery to hide, while others reportedly slipped into a house located on the outskirts where local vigilante members were stationed on guard duty.
A community leader, who requested anonymity, explained that the confrontation began when the bandits encountered the vigilantes. During the initial exchange, one member of the vigilante group was reportedly killed, prompting the rest of the group to retaliate.
The confrontation quickly escalated into a gun battle between the two sides, during which three of the suspected bandits were reportedly shot dead.
According to the source, the attackers later tracked another vigilante member who had taken shelter inside a nearby house and killed him.
“They killed two of our vigilante members. We also killed three of the bandits during the exchange of gunfire,” he said.
The slain vigilante members were identified as Umar Ibrahim and Abubakar Abdullahi.
Residents of the village said the attackers later removed the bodies of their dead companions from the scene, allegedly using a donkey to transport them in an apparent attempt to conceal their identities.
It was also gathered that the bandits deliberately left their motorcycles at a distance from the village so the noise from the engines would not alert residents to their presence.
“They entered the village on foot because they knew we were guarding the community. They parked their motorcycles far away so that we would not hear the sound. After the clash, they used a donkey to carry the bodies of those killed and fled after breaking the fence of a house,” another resident said.
The incident reportedly caused fear and confusion among villagers, with some residents initially considering fleeing the community.
However, a member of the village security committee said local leaders, including the village head and the commander of the community guards, stepped in to calm residents and urged them not to abandon the village.
Community members also expressed frustration over the recurring attacks in the area, pointing out that Bargaja lacks a permanent security presence despite facing security threats similar to those experienced by neighbouring communities.
They called on both the state and federal governments to deploy security personnel to the area to curb the growing wave of banditry.
“We urgently need security presence here because attacks by bandits are becoming too frequent. Even at the beginning of Ramadan, some people were killed in our community,” a resident said.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Sokoto State Command, DSP Ahmad Rufai, confirmed that the police were aware of the attack and the casualties recorded during the incident when contacted. Read_More…