Tension Heightens as Death Toll in Bandits-Miners Clash Over Gold in Kaduna Hits 17, Scores Injured

John Shiklam in Kaduna

There is heightened tension in Kaduna as the death toll in the bandits/illegal miners clash over gold hit 17, while several others were injured.

AFP had reported that seven deaths were earlier recorded.

The clashes took place on Thursday in Kaduna, one of the states that for years has been terrorised by criminal gangs of cattle thieves and kidnapping for ransom by bandits.

The gangs maintain camps in a vast forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Niger states from where they launch attacks on communities.

Violence erupted at an illegal mining site in Birnin Gwari district when a bandit kingpin “extorted gold from miners at gunpoint”, the report quoted by AFP said.

Miners mobilised and killed the bandit leader, prompting reprisals from his comrades who raided the mining site, “shooting and killing seven miners”, according to the report.

Later the same day, bandits raided nearby Layin Danauta village, where they killed nine people, wounded 13 others, kidnapped several residents, and destroyed property, the report said.

Birnin Gwari, a mineral-rich agricultural hub, had seen a sharp drop in bandit violence since the Kaduna State government brokered a peace agreement between bandits and residents in November last year.

The district has seen an influx since 2021 of bandits and Al-Qaeda-aligned Ansaru jihadists, who forged a close alliance with the bandits and took control of most of the district, enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

Resident Muhammad Kabir told AFP the latest clashes had caused panic in the community over a potential resumption of violence in the area after a lull.

“We have been enjoying relative peace since the peace deal was signed, but this latest violence risks jeopardising it,” Kabir said.

He confirmed the killing of the bandit leader and the deadly raid in nearby Layin Danauta village.

Although bandits have no ideological leanings and are motivated by financial gain, their close alliance with jihadists waging an armed rebellion in the northeast has alarmed officials and security experts.

Since the peace agreement was signed, bandits’ sources of revenue from kidnapping and levies on farming communities dropped sharply, leaving them with taxing illegal mining sites, which have mushroomed following the peace deal, according to the security report for the United Nations.

The report warned that the latest clashes may lead to a “degeneration” of the peace while further clashes remain likely.