Troops of the Joint Task Force deployed to northern Nigeria have successfully stopped an attempted overnight attack by armed bandits on several rural communities in Kano State, a major commercial and agricultural hub in northern Nigeria.
The security operation took place in Shanono Local Government Area, an administrative district in Kano State, northwestern Nigeria, where residents have faced growing security threats linked to armed criminal groups operating across forested border regions.
According to military sources, the confrontation began late on Thursday, 1 January 2026, and continued into the early hours of Friday, 2 January 2026, affecting villages such as Yankwada, Babanduhu, and nearby settlements.
Nigeria’s Army spokesperson in Kano State, Major Zubair Babatunde, who represents the Nigerian Army, one of the country’s primary land forces, confirmed that the attackers arrived on motorcycles and opened sporadic gunfire as they attempted to breach the communities.
He explained that the incursion was believed to be a revenge operation following an earlier clash in which several bandits were killed by troops during a military operation conducted the previous week.
“The attackers moved into the villages at about 1:00 a.m., but our troops responded swiftly and effectively,” Babatunde said.
“The bandits were effectively engaged and dislodged by the military,” he added.
Okay News reports that the timely deployment of soldiers prevented widespread destruction, civilian casualties, and deeper penetration into larger population centers within Kano State.
The army spokesperson reassured residents that the military remained committed to safeguarding lives and property, while urging community members to support ongoing operations by providing credible and timely intelligence to security agencies.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Shanono and Bagwai Community Security Forum, a local civilian security coordination body, Alhaji Yahya Bagobiri, also confirmed the attempted attack but provided additional details about the scale of the operation.
According to Bagobiri, the bandits arrived as part of a revenge mission after losing nine of their fighters during an earlier military engagement.
“The bandits, riding over 50 motorcycles, each carrying three persons armed with bazookas and other heavy weapons, raided Yankwada, Babanduhu, and other villages, opening fire from around 1:00 a.m. on Thursday to 5:00 a.m. on Friday, resulting in the killing of a civilian,” he said.
Bagobiri, however, praised the soldiers for stopping the attackers from advancing into major towns within the area.
“The bandits were dislodged by the military’s tactical fighting despite the fact that they came with heavy arms, but succeeded only in stealing 100 cows and killing one civilian,” he added.
He appealed to Nigeria’s Federal Government, the central authority responsible for national defense and security policy, to strengthen military capacity in the region by supplying additional weapons and deploying more personnel.
Bagobiri further expressed confidence that enhanced cooperation with the Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria’s aerial defense arm, would help stabilize four vulnerable local government areas, including Shanono, Bagwai, Tsanyawa, and Gwarzo.
“The intention of the bandits was to penetrate Kano, but the redeployment of more military personnel and provision of more arms would stop their criminal missions,” he said.
In a later clarification, Captain Zubairu Babatunde, Assistant Director of Army Public Relations for the 3 Brigade Nigerian Army, confirmed the incident via a WhatsApp message but disputed parts of the community account.
“All the details are true except they did not kill anyone and there was no rustling of cows,” he stated.
Security officials also recalled that during a separate operation last week, at least nine bandits were reportedly killed during an exchange of gunfire in Bakaji and Unguwar Garma, communities located in the Goron Dutse area of Shanono Local Government Area.
That earlier clash reportedly led to the death of one local vigilante member, while another sustained injuries.
In October 2025, troops under Operation MESA, a joint internal security mission led by the 3 Brigade Nigerian Army, also neutralized at least 19 bandits during a previous encounter in Shanono Local Government Area.
