A coordinated operation by Nigerian security forces has reportedly resulted in the elimination of notorious bandit kingpin, Ibrahim Bastuji, and several of his fighters in Kogi State.
The operation, carried out on Wednesday by troops of the Nigerian Army, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), officers of the Nigeria Police Force, and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), was supported by local vigilantes in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area.
Security sources told Blazon News Nigeria that the bandits were intercepted near Iluke Bunu while allegedly planning an attack on the community and a nearby school. The operatives, acting on intelligence, laid an ambush for the criminals, leading to a fierce exchange of gunfire in which scores of bandits were reportedly killed. Bastuji, who was the primary target of the operation, is believed to have died during the encounter.
Sources disclosed that the successful operation followed intelligence gathered by the DSS indicating that the gang leader was plotting to abduct schoolchildren and use them as bargaining tools to secure the release of members of his family currently in security custody. The intelligence prompted a joint security response aimed at neutralizing the threat before it could be carried out.
Bastuji had been linked to several deadly attacks and mass abductions across the North-Central region. Among the incidents attributed to him was the May 2026 attack on a church vigil at Ori-Oke Ijaye in Kwara State, where three worshippers were killed and 15 others kidnapped. He was also accused of masterminding the December 2025 attack on an ECWA church in Ayetoro-Kiri, Kogi State, which left one worshipper dead and 20 others abducted.
The suspected bandit kingpin was further blamed for the November 2025 attack on Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Ekiti State, where two worshippers were killed and 38 others taken captive. Security sources also linked him to the abduction of four Chinese expatriates and other victims in early 2025, as well as attacks on motorists along the Lokoja-Abuja Highway and assaults on security personnel operating in Kogi State.
Reacting to the development, community leader Bello Abdullahi described the operation as a major victory in the fight against banditry and kidnapping in the North-Central zone. According to him, the elimination of Bastuji represents a significant step toward restoring peace and security across communities that had suffered years of attacks, killings and abductions allegedly orchestrated by the notorious gang leader.