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”.

Two attacks in the space of a few days left 30 people dead in two neighbouring towns in Nigeria’s central State of Benue, long prone to inter-communal clashes, sources told AFP.

Armed bandits killed at least 13 traders on Friday (February 7, 2026) afternoon in Anwase, a village in the Kwande area, local government official Ibi Andrew told AFP.

He said the assailants stormed the market “and opened fire on the people randomly”.

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“The attack left traders and residents traumatised, with properties destroyed and families searching for missing loved ones.”

On Tuesday, armed men had attacked the market in nearby Mbaikyor, killing 17 people, including a police officer, according to two residents and local media.

The region has seen an upsurge of violence in recent months between Muslim ethnic Fulani herders and mainly Christian farmers over control of land and resources.

Though generally presented as communal clashes, the unrest stems from complex dynamics with land rivalries exacerbated by climate change, a proliferation of small arms and the lack of a sustainable response from the Nigerian State.

A tanker truck laden with gasoline exploded Tuesday (October 21, 2025) in north-central Nigeria, killing at least 31 people, police said.

The explosion occurred in the Bida area of Niger State after the truck fell and as local residents rushed to the scene to scoop up spilling fuel, police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement. He said 17 people also were injured in the blast and were taken to nearby hospitals.

In recent months, Niger State has seen a rise in accidents involving heavy-duty trucks, which analysts have blamed on bad roads and the absence of a rail network. The state serves as a major transit hub for commodities moving between northern and southern Nigeria.

An investigation was underway to identify the driver, the owner of the tanker and cause of the accident, the police spokesperson said.

Niger State Gov. Umaru Bago said it was disheartening that people go to collect gasoline from overturned tankers despite the danger. “This is yet another painful, difficult, and tragic one for the people and the state government,” Bago said.