Authorities in Nigeria have announced the death of a prominent armed gang leader in a clash on Sunday in the northwestern state of Kaduna, which has been affected by a deteriorating security situation for months due to the expansion of operations by criminal groups.
Kaduna’s commissioner for security and interior, Samuel Aruwan, said the deceased is Kachalla Gudau and added that the death of the militiaman has been corroborated by intelligence information, according to the Nigerian newspaper ‘Vanguard’.
«The remains of this notorious bandit, who had links with other prominent criminals in northwestern and north-central states, were recovered in Kanomi forest, where he bled to death,» Aruwan said.
He said that «Gudau played a prominent role in the abduction of students and expatriates in Kajuru, Chikun and Kachia councils, in addition to the murder of abductees and victims who resisted abduction,» adding that one of his «assistants» was among the dead.
Aruwan stressed that «the kinetic operations» of the security forces «denied the bandits freedom of action and would have provoked the attack on a military base in Kankomi, where he was killed».
«The unfortunate end of Kachalla Gudau is something to applaud and a clear affirmation that those who pose a threat to security have an expiration date and will have to face justice or a bitter end, however distant it may seem,» he concluded.
Armed attacks in Nigeria, previously centered in the northeast of the country – where Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) operate – have expanded in recent months to other areas in the north and northwest, raising alarms about the possible expansion of these terrorist networks.
