Nigerian military has killed a notorious bandit kingpin, Damina, who masterminded high-profile attacks and a series of kidnappings in the North-East.

National security officers told Peoples Gazette Friday that Mr Damina, whose death was wrongly reported two years ago, was killed this week after he sustained gunshot wounds during a bandits encounter with troops of the Nigerian Army in Zamfara.

Sources told The Gazette that several bandits were also eliminated during the encounter with troops. 

The Nigerian Army spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukuwu, did not respond to requests for further details about the incident.

Mr Damina, based around Jangeme village in the Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State, was known for his terror reign, leading hundreds of fighters involved in cattle rustling, kidnappings, and attacks on military formations.

He was a protege of a pioneer bandit kingpin, the late Buharin Daji, notoriously known as Buhari Janar, who attacked rural communities and villages. 

Following the killing of Mr Daji, Mr Damina forged alliances with other criminals, including the pioneer bandit kingpin’s followers, Karami, Halilu Sububu, Zakwali, and Nagala, to terrorise Nigerian communities, mostly Kwanar Dutse in the Dansadau emirate of Maru, Zamfara. 

In November 2023, Mr Damina’s terror group abducted over 100 residents of Mutunji and two other communities in the Dansadau emirate. 

He led the abduction and attack on the communities after they failed to pay levies imposed on them for allegedly revealing information on terrorists’ movements to security agents. 

According to sources, Damina recently joined the late notorious bandit Kachalla Ali Kawaje‘s syndicate, which kidnapped students of the Federal University Gusau (FUGU) who are still in captivity. Mr Kawaje was killed in the Nigerian Air Force airstrikes on December 11, 2023.

The syndicate abducted eight Chinese expatriates in Niger State and killed one, while the other seven victims escaped from captivity. Also, it kidnapped another three Chinese nationals and demanded N300 million as ransom to secure their release.

In 2011, what began as farmer-herder clashes in Zamfara snowballed into terrorism. Terrorist activities have resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced thousands of the state’s residents since then.