• Two Kwara LGs impose curfew over insecurity
Gunmen killed three mobile policemen and injured two others in a reported ambush along the Guga-Bakori Road in Bakori Local Council of Katsina State, on Tuesday night. 
 
It was gathered that the attack occurred about midnight when the policemen were responding to a distress call by residents who were being harassed by the bandits on the highway. 
 
According to reports, the hoodlums had blocked the road at about 11:00 p.m. and were busy robbing hapless passengers of their belongings.
 
It was during the robbery that a police mobile team was dispatched to restore normalcy. 
 
But while trying to address the security situation, the policemen were said to have fallen into an ambush with an ensuing gunfire. 
 
The van conveying the officers was said to have capsized after it came under heavy attack. 
 
Bakori is among more than a dozen councils that have reached peace agreements with repentant bandits in recent times. 
 
A spokesperson for the police command, DSP Abubakar Aliyu, confirmed the incident yesterday.

“On 27th January, 2026, at about 1244 hrs, a team of policemen on routine anti-crime patrol along Guga-Bakori were ambushed by some suspected armed hoodlums shooting sporadically.
 
“The officers responded bravely, repelling the attack. Unfortunately, three officers paid the supreme price during the encounter, while two officers sustained injuries,” he said.

In Zamfara, bandits have unleashed terror on Tashar Katuru in Jangebe community of Talata Mafara council area, kidnapping scores of villagers, especially women and children and setting shops ablaze in the process. 
 
The council chairman of Muryar Talata Mafara, Kabiru Jangebe, said the bandits stormed the community with sophisticated weapons at about 1:13 a.m. on Monday. 
 
He explained that one of the villagers sustained a leg injury, as he was shot by the gunmen.

He said the operation lasted for over two hours.

There is a discrepancy regarding the number of kidnapped victims, as the authorities concerned refused to speak.

A community leader, who put the number of the abducted victims at 22, added: “but one boy escaped. They burgled only two shops and carted away smartphones and confiscated the bags of two people.”

Also reacting to the incident, the chairman of Talata Mafara council area, Yahaya Abubakar Yari, confirmed the abduction of 23 persons at Tashar Kuturu.

He said the terrorists attacked Tashar Kuturu around 2:00 a.m. on Monday and kidnapped 23 persons, out of which one escaped.

Yari explained that on Sunday, the bandits attacked Matura village in Kagara district, too, where they abducted three persons and killed one.

He said currently 22 people are in the bandits’ den, and efforts are ongoing to rescue them.

When contacted, the Zamfara State Police Command’s spokesman, DSP Yazid Abubakar, did not comment on the matter.

Following the pervasive insecurity in parts of Kwara, Edu and Ifelodun council areas of the state, the state has declared a 24-hour curfew to tackle banditry and abductions in their domains. 
 
In separate statements by the two authorities, there would be no human or vehicular traffic in their entire districts within the period.
 
They said the move is in support of the ongoing security clearance operation in the area. 
 
According to the statement by the Edu LGA Council Media Team and Communications Strategic Unit, the council chairman, Abdullahi Bello, imposed the restriction on Gbugbu community, including the popular international market in the area.
 
The statement also said the curfew is effective from 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.
 
In another statement yesterday, Abdulquadri Jimba, the Chief Press Secretary to the Ifelodun council chairman, Abdulrasheed Yusuf, said the curfew covers the entire Oro-ago district of the LGA.