Key facts
- Police spokesperson Yazid Abubakar said gunmen killed the vigilante, 10 relatives and set the family house on fire.
- Abubakar said 13 people were abducted in the attack on Gidan Taba in Maradun district.
- Abubakar said the volunteer was targeted after repeatedly helping security forces fend off gang incursions.
- Abubakar said security forces were deployed to the area and were working to secure the hostages' release.
Gunmen killed a local security volunteer and 10 of his relatives, burned their bodies, torched their home and abducted 13 others in a weekend attack on Gidan Taba in Maradun district of Zamfara state, northwestern Nigeria, police spokesperson Yazid Abubakar said on November 9, 2026.
Abubakar said the gunmen attacked the volunteer after he repeatedly helped security forces fend off incursions by criminal gangs into the community. "They considered him an obstacle to their activities," Abubakar said. The attackers killed the man, a member of a government-backed vigilante group, before killing 10 other members of his family and setting their house on fire, according to Abubakar.
Abubakar said security forces have been deployed in the area and are working to secure the hostages' release. Many northwestern states in Nigeria have groups of volunteers who help defend villages and towns from armed gangs, as the security forces are stretched fighting Islamist militants and the gangs, known as bandits. Northwest Nigeria has for years faced attacks by the bandits, who raid villages, kill residents, abduct people for ransom and loot homes.