The Kebbi State Government has confirmed a brazen and coordinated attack by a heavily armed gang of bandits on a mobile police base in Makuku, a remote community in the Zuru Local Government Area. The attackers, estimated to be in the hundreds, overpowered the stationed officers, set a police patrol vehicle ablaze, and made away with an undisclosed number of rifles.
Speaking to journalists in Bagudo Local Government Area on Saturday, the Director of Security at the Cabinet Office, Abdulrahman Zagga, described the assault as one of the most daring in recent times. He clarified that contrary to widespread reports, the assailants did not strike a conventional police station but rather a temporary mobile police post manned by visiting personnel.
“The mobile unit came under a sudden and heavy attack by a large band of bandits. Despite putting up a strong resistance, the officers were eventually outnumbered and outgunned,” Zagga said.
He revealed that the attackers torched a Toyota Hilux patrol van belonging to the police unit and fled the scene with multiple assault rifles seized during the firefight. The overwhelming force of the assailants compelled the officers to withdraw for their safety.
In swift response to the crisis, the Kebbi State Government contacted the Nigerian Air Force for immediate aerial support. According to Zagga, the deployment of airpower was instrumental in scattering the bandits and forcing a retreat into the surrounding bushland.
“No lives were lost during the encounter, but the loss of weapons and the attack itself is deeply concerning,” he added.
Zagga pointed out that the perpetrators likely infiltrated from neighbouring Zamfara and Niger States—regions long plagued by violent banditry. He stressed the vulnerability of Makuku village, which shares porous borders with these volatile territories.
He further debunked speculations that Kebbi has entered into peace deals with any bandit group, asserting that the state maintains a zero-tolerance stance toward criminal negotiations.
“There are no peace agreements, no backdoor pacts. Kebbi State does not negotiate with terrorists,” he said firmly.
Zagga also shed light on a critical but often overlooked factor fueling the surge in rural insecurity: local informants. According to him, these collaborators enable bandits to identify targets and evade security sweeps.
“Informants are a cancer in our communities. They feed the bandits with intelligence. And during the rainy season, attacks spike due to the extortion of farming communities,” he lamented.
Zagga narrated how bandits routinely demand money from villages—threatening violence if their demands are unmet. While communities that pay might enjoy brief reprieves, the cycle of extortion and terror merely shifts from one village to the next.
“As long as this vicious cycle of fear and payment continues, our rural communities will never truly be at peace,” he concluded.
The attack on the Makuku police post highlights the escalating insecurity gripping northwestern Nigeria, where bandits continue to challenge state authority with impunity. Authorities have vowed to pursue the attackers and retrieve the stolen arms.
PIONEER NEWS 