JAKARTA - Armed groups ambushed and killed about 62 volunteers in Nigeria's northwestern Kebbi state, the head of a volunteer group and police said, in one of the worst acts of violence there since mid-January.
Many of Nigeria's northwestern states have volunteer groups that help defend villages and towns from armed gangs, as security forces are deployed to fight religious militant groups and gangs, known as bandits.
Usman Sani, head of the 'Yan Sa Kai' group in Kebbi, told Reuters his group had planned to attack bandits in the Sakaba area on Sunday evening. However, someone had leaked their plan.
"They hid in ambush, hid motorbikes in the bushes, surrounded us and opened fire from various directions," said Sani, a retired soldier, Tuesday. He said 62 people had died.
Meanwhile, Kebbi Police spokesman Nafiu Abubakar confirmed the ambush but said he had no details on how many people were killed.
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To note, dozens of gunmen on motorbikes searched a village and killed more than 50 people in Kebbi last January.
Gunmen have spread terror across the northwest, where they have kidnapped hundreds of schoolchildren and villagers for ransom. The violence has added to the problem in the northern state, which is usually poorer than the south.
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