Gunmen have killed 24 people, including eight soldiers and a policeman, in two separate attacks in northwest and central Nigeria over the weekend, residents and aid workers said on Monday (October 12, 2026).

There has been a recent increase in attacks on communities in the two regions, blamed on gangs engaged in kidnapping for ransom and cattle rustling — locally referred to as bandits, and on jihadist groups.

On Sunday (October 11, 2026), gangs killed 13 people in an ambush on a convoy of traders heading to a local market in Bukkuyum district of northwestern Zamfara state, three residents told AFP.

The convoy from Gwashi was heading to Gurusu for a weekly market when bandits opened fire, the sources said.

Three Bukkuyum residents said 13 people had been killed.

“The bandits killed 13 people in the ambush, including eight soldiers, one policeman and four traders, including a woman,” said Lawal Muhammad, a local chief in Bukkuyum.

Eleven people, including three soldiers, were wounded and taken to hospital, he said.

The attackers ransacked vehicles and looted merchandise before burning three vehicles in the convoy, said Jamilu Umar, a Bukkuyum resident.

Al-Mustapha Muhammad, another Bukkuyum resident, said the route between Gwashi and Gurusu had “become a nightmare for travellers”.

In a separate incident, suspected jihadists killed 11 people in an incursion in Borgu district of central Niger state near the border with Benin, two aid workers said.

Both said 11 people had been killed in the attack overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

“The Lakurawa terrorists killed 11 people, four of them vigilantes providing security to the village,” one said.

Another said residents had fled into Benin for fear of renewed attacks.

Communities in mineral-rich, agrarian Niger state have continued to desert their homes due to an escalation of fatal raids by bandits and jihadists.

Separately, the military said on Monday that it had killed more than 40 Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters in an airstrike on a “terrorist enclave” in Guzamala district in northeastern Borno State, the epicentre of more than 17 years of jihadist insurgency.

It said the Saturday operation was intelligence-driven “followed by credible reports of a concentration of ISWAP fighters preparing to launch coordinated attacks on troops”.

 Nigerian troops killed more than ​25 Islamic State-aligned militants as they fought off an assault on ⁠a military position in northeastern Borno State, suffering an unknown number of casualties of their own, military sources and a member of the civilian defence force said on Wednesday (October 7, 2026).

In a separate, ‌earlier incident, gunmen on motorbikes killed more than 25 soldiers and over 100 small-scale gold miners in Zamfara State, in the northwest, a ‌military source, government official, and three residents said.

The attacks underscore the persistent ‌threat ⁠posed by Islamist insurgents in northeastern Nigeria despite years of military campaigns ⁠against Boko Haram and its offshoot, known as Islamic State West Africa Province. Meanwhile, violence is spreading in the northwest, where bandits and Islamist groups also operate.

Insecurity is likely to be a key ​issue in Nigeria’s election early next ‌year.

Special forces under attack

In the incident in the northeast, troops of the 101 Special Forces Battalion came under attack on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) night from four directions in Kukawa, near Lake Chad, but repelled the assault with air support, according ‌to the military.

“Preliminary assessment indicates that over 25 terrorists were neutralised, with ​14 bodies recovered so far,” Captain Mohammed Goni, acting military information officer for Operation Hadin Kai, said in a statement. Troops seized ⁠six AK-47 rifles and ammunition during follow-up operations.

The military sources said some soldiers were killed in the fighting but did not provide details.

A member of the Civilian Joint ‌Task Force, which supports military operations in the northeast, said more than three of its members were killed.

The military said it would continue joint operations to prevent militants from regrouping and launching further attacks.

Gunmen on motorbikes

On October 5, heavily armed bandits on motorcycles attacked a military camp in Bindin, a community in Zamfara’s Maru local government area, killing at least 25 troops, three eyewitnesses told Reuters.

Salisu Abdu, ‌a resident of the nearby Bindin village, said he had counted the bodies of 25 ​dead soldiers.

A military source who participated in an operation to reinforce security in the community on Wednesday confirmed the attack, saying that he ⁠too saw 25 bodies. The gunmen looted the base after overrunning the soldiers, he ⁠said.

The gunmen then opened fire in a mining pit on Tuesday where about 1,000 people were digging for gold.

At least 100 people were ‌killed, according to a village head and relatives of the victims.

Reuters could not confirm the casualty figures. Neither the Nigerian military nor the Zamfara State ​government responded to requests for comment.

At least 32 people have been killed after gunmen launched simultaneous attacks on three communities in the north-central region of Nigeria, the police and a resident said Saturday (February 14, 2026).

The dawn raid were targeted on the communities of Tunga-Makeri, Konkoso, and Pissa, in the Borgu area of Niger state.

Niger State police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said six people died in the attack on Tunga-Makeri, adding that a “yet to be ascertained number of persons were abducted.”

Abiodun confirmed that the Konkoso community was attacked, but provided no further details. “Joint security teams have been mobilised to the scene for assessment and effort to rescue the victims is ongoing,” he said.

Abdullahi Adamu, a resident of Konkoso, said 26 people were killed in the attack on his community. “They were operating freely without the presence of any security,” he said.

Northern Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis featuring both Islamic militants and armed gangs kidnapping people for ransom.

Saturday’s (February 14, 2026) attacks follow a deadly attack earlier this month in neighboring Kwara State that killed 162 people.

In the past few months, Nigeria has been in the crosshairs of the U.S. government, which has accused the Nigerian authorities of not protecting Christians, although attacks affect both Christians and Muslims.

The accusation has resulted in a security partnership between both countries that has involved U.S. strikes targeting armed groups in Nigerian territories in December, as well as presence of a team of U.S. military in the West African country.

Gunmen have killed at least 35 people in the Kwara State in western-central Nigeria, authorities said Wednesday (February 4, 2026).

“This morning I was told that 35 to 40 dead bodies were counted,” Sa’idu Baba Ahmed, a local lawmaker in the Kaiama region, told AFP.

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The attack was confirmed by police, which did not provide casualty figures, and the State government, which blamed it on “terrorist cells”.