A Nigerian “bandit” leader wanted for kidnapping and murdering civilians, along with 65 of his men, has been detained in southern Niger, according to local police.
For more than a decade, the Nigeria-Niger border has served as a sanctuary for armed gangs known locally as bandits, who kidnap residents for ransom and rustle cattle.
“After several days of tailing (him), the men of our anti-terrorist operation finally caught the infamous (Kachalla) Baleri and some of his men,” regional governor Issoufou Mamane told public television late Wednesday.
Broadcasting footage of several dozen handcuffed and masked men sitting on the ground, the channel said they had been arrested during the day “in the middle of a meeting to plan attacks against the positions of the defence and security forces”.
The Maradi region governor said Baleri, from Nigeria’s Zamfara state, was number 40 on the Nigerian army’s most wanted list.
According to public television, Baleri had taken part in “several bloody attacks in Nigeria”, as well as a February 22 assault that left four Niger soldiers dead from the anti-terrorist unit that had captured him on Wednesday.
“They are rapists, thieves, cattle rustlers and unscrupulous killers,” said Maradi high court prosecutor Adam Adamou.
The armed forces of both countries have carried out joint operations to try to halt the violence.
The regional governor accused Nigeria of withdrawing its security forces and abandoning the border “zone to armed bandits who lay down the law” and stage incursions into Niger.