Troops kill top bandit leader

One of Nigeria’s most notorious bandit leaders has been killed in a military ambush, military and security sources said Friday, seen as a major victory in the fight against criminal gangs.

Nigerian forces have for years been fighting criminal gangs described as bandits who have been targeting communities in northwestern and central Nigeria.

The gangs frequently raid villages, kill and abduct residents for ransom, and loot and torch homes.

Halilu Sububu, also known as Halilu Buzu, was killed Thursday along with dozens of his fighters in an hours-long gunfight following an ambush of his convoy by soldiers after receiving intelligence on his movements.

“In a decisive joint operation led by three personnel of the Nigerian Air Force Special Forces, a notorious bandit, Halilu Sububu, and over 38 terrorists were neutralised during an engagement,” Group Captain Kabiru Ali, a Nigerian Air Force spokesman, said in a statement.

Ali said a “significant cache of weapons” including rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and ammunition were recovered after the battle.

From his base in Zamfara, Sububu had attacked communities in Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina and Niger states.

Security sources said Sububu and his motorcycle convoy of around 60 fighters were waylaid by troops in Mayanchi, a village in the Zurmi district.

The clash continued into Friday morning, with Sububu killed alongside most of his fighters, including senior comrades, the security sources said.

The 38-year old, who also went by the alias Kachalla Halilu Tubali, engaged in illegal mining and arms trafficking, supplying weapons to criminal gangs from Libya through Niger.

Sububu ran an illegal gold mining operation in Bagega and dominated communities around the Sunke forest in the gold-rich Anka district.

He was among 19 bandit kingpins on whom the Nigerian military placed a bounty of five million naira ($3,050) each in November 2022.

In May, Nigeria’s defence minister declared him wanted for the second time, underscoring his major role in banditry in the northwest.

He narrowly escaped a Nigerian military airstrike on his enclave on October 24, 2022, when at least 30 of his fighters were killed.