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.

A state-backed Nigerian militia, operating alongside the military, killed scores of ethnic Fulani herders in a raid, local sources have told AFP.

The herders were killed in an operation that also involved vigilantes from Benin, just across the border from Niger state, after the herders were accused of being informants for the jihadist group Ansaru, the sources said.

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.

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”.

Also Read | Gunmen kill at least 162 in new Nigeria attack

“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.

At least 30 villagers have been killed and several others are missing after gunmen raided a village in northern Nigeria’s Niger state, police said Sunday (January 5, 2026), the latest in a cycle of deadly violence in the conflict-hit region.

The gunmen stormed the Kasuwan-Daji village in the Borgu local government area on Saturday (January 3) evening and opened fire on residents. They also razed down the local market and several houses, State police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement.

At least two residents put the death toll at 37 and said it could be much higher as some people remained missing as of Sunday (January 4). Locals also said the security forces are yet to arrive in the area, contradicting a police claim that they have deployed officers to search for those kidnapped.

Rev. Fr. Stephen Kabirat, a spokesman for the Catholic Church of Kontagora Diocese where the attack happened, told local media that the gunmen killed more than 40 people and abducted several others, including children.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack and said he has directed security officials to hunt down the gunmen and rescue the hostages.

“These terrorists have tested the resolve of our country and its people,” Mr. Tinubu said in a statement. “They must face the full consequences of their criminal actions. No matter who they are or what their intent is, they must be hunted down. In addition, those who aid, abet, or enable them will also be brought to justice.”

The gunmen had been lurking around nearby communities for about a week before the attack, according to one resident who asked not to be named for fear of his safety. Now survivors are too afraid to go recover the bodies.

“The bodies are there (in Kasuwan-Daji village). If we don’t see any security, how can we go there?” the resident said, adding that the attack lasted for up to three hours.

Such attacks are common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where dozens of rogue gangs seeking control often target remote communities with limited security and government presence.

The attack on Kasuwan-Daji village happened near the Papiri community, where more than 300 schoolchildren and their teachers were kidnapped from a Catholic school in November.

The attackers who raided Kasuwan-Daji arrived from the National Park Forest along Kabe district, according to the police, pointing to a usual trend where abandoned expansive forest reserves act as hideouts for armed gangs.

Anthony Joshua, the Nigerian-British boxer and former world heavyweight champion, was involved in a car accident that killed two other passengers in Nigeria on Monday.

The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, confirmed the accident in a post on X, adding that the government had sent ambulances to the crash site. Local media reports say the boxer has been transferred to a hospital.

According to a statement by Olusegun Ogungbemide, spokesperson for the Federal Road Safety Corps, preliminary investigations indicate the vehicle “to be travelling beyond the legally prescribed speed limit on the corridor, lost control during an overtaking manoeuvre and crashed into a stationary truck,” which was by the side of the road.

The Ogun state government said in a statement that “preliminary reports indicate that two male foreign nationals died on the spot”. AP has not been able to independently verify their identities.

Photos on social media show the boxer being extricated from a wrecked vehicle while he was wincing in pain.

The accident occurred on a major thoroughfare linking Ogun state, a nearby city, to Lagos, the country’s economic center.

“Anthony Joshua is in an undisclosed hospital being treated for his injuries,” Lanre Ogunlowo, the commissioner of police for Ogun state, told the AP. He said he has no further information on the injuries.

Nigeria is the homeland of Joshua’s parents and where he briefly went to boarding school at the age of 11.

Joshua had recently beaten YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul on Dec. 19 in a bout in Miami, which he was using to regain sharpness in the ring ahead of an attempt to reclaim the world heavyweight title, which he lost in 2021 to Oleksandr Usyk.

He has been in talks to fight fellow Briton Tyson Fury in 2026.

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.

Gunmen killed one man and abducted 18 women and children during a raid on a village in Nigeria’s Zamfar state, in the northwest, local sources told AFP Saturday (September 13, 2025).

The attackers, from kidnap and cattle-rustling gangs known as “bandits”, bandits stormed Birnin Zarma village at dawn Friday in the latest violence in the region, the sources said.

Zamfara is one of several states in northwest and central Nigeria that have been plagued by bandit raids for years.

“The bandits attacked the village around 5:00 am while people were preparing for morning prayers,” said Ibrahim Bello, a Birnin Zarma resident.

“They broke into a house and shot dead a man and injured his wife before herding 18 women and children out of the village,” Bello said.

The attackers were believed to be from neighbouring Anka district where they maintain camps in a nearby forest, said Lawal Umar, a resident of neighbouring town of Bukkuyum, confirming details of the raid.

“The bandits kidnapped 18 women and children from the village after killing a farmer named Garba Gambo and leaving his wife with gunshot wounds,” said Umar.

Troops stationed in Bukkuyum to protect the area from bandits incursion could not get to the village to repel the attack as the river separating Birnin Zarma and Bukkuyum was in spate, said Umar.

That meant there were no boats available to ferry them across.

Residents of Birnin Zarma, 170 km (105 miles) from the State capital Gusau, were still waiting for a ransom demand from the gang, said Bello.

Late last month 15 passengers, mostly women and children, fleeing bandits attacks on three villages in neighbouring Gummi district drowned when their boat capsized mid-stream.

Boko Haram militants killed dozens of people in a nighttime assault on a village in northeastern Nigeria that is home to residents who recently returned from a closed camp for internally displaced persons, residents and authorities said.

The attack on Darul Jamal in the Bama local government area took place late on Friday (September 5, 2025) and killed at least 60 people, a resident of the village, Mohammed Babagana, told The Associated Press.

Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum, who visited the attacked community late Saturday (September 6, 2025) evening, confirmed to reporters that over 60 died in the attack.

“We sympathise with the people and have pleaded with them not to abandon their homes as we have made arrangements to improve security and provide food and other lifesaving items that they have lost,” Mr. Zulum said.

The chairman of Bama’s local government, Modu Gujja, said over a dozen houses were burnt and more than 100 people were forced to flee their homes.

Taiwo Adebayo, a researcher specialising in Boko Haram at the Institute for Security Studies, spoke to local residents of Darual Jamal and said the killings on Friday (September 5, 2025) night were carried out by a faction of Boko Haram known as Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad.

Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadis, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law. The conflict has spilt into Nigeria’s northern neighbours, including Niger, and resulted in the death of around 35,000 civilians and the displacement of more than 2 million others, according to the United Nations.

Boko Haram split into two factions after the death of the group’s longtime leader, Abubakar Shekau, in 2021.

One faction is backed by the Islamic State group and is known as the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP. It has become notorious for targeting military positions.

The other faction, Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, or JAS, has increasingly resorted to attacking civilians and perceived collaborators and thrives on robberies and abductions for ransom.

“When JAS attacks and kills a lot of people like they did last night in Bama, it’s usually because they suspect the victims of spying for the rival ISWAP or the military,” Mr. Adebayo told the AP.

The Bama local government area was the target of several Boko Haram attacks a decade ago, forcing many residents to flee.

Following military operations in the area in recent years, authorities resettled displaced people in several communities, most recently the village of Darul Jamal in July.

Kaana Ali, a Darul Jamal resident, said he decided to leave the community for good after he confirmed the deaths of close family friends in the attack on Friday (September 5, 2025).

“But the governor is still begging us to stay back as more protection would be provided to secure our community,” he said.