Sixteen killed in northwest Nigeria as villagers battle militants, police say

Sixteen people were killed during a clash between local security forces and suspected Lakurawa insurgents who had raided villages in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kebbi, police and residents said on Monday.

The Islamist Lakurawa group emerged from herding communities along the Nigeria-Niger border after the July 2023 coup in Niger.

Nigeria has also been grappling with a long-running insurgency in its northeast, primarily driven by the Islamist armed group Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province.

Kebbi police spokesperson Nafiu Abubakar said the attack occurred on Saturday evening when the gunmen attacked the villages of Tungan Taura and Tungan Ladan.

"The assailants reportedly rustled an unspecified number of cattle, and during a confrontation as they attempted to flee, 16 individuals were killed," Abubakar said in a statement.

The police have deployed additional tactical units "to track down and apprehend the perpetrators," he said.

One Kebbi resident, Abubakar Augie, said Lakurawa had raided villages in the area and stolen an unspecified number of cattle. The group opened fire at villagers who came out in large numbers to try to stop the assailants, he said.

A Nigerian federal court in January declared the Lakurawa group a terrorist organisation, a designation that allows the military to use maximum force against it.