Worried by the activities of bandits in Niger State, the state government has engaged the services of spiritualists and local hunters that killed 40 bandits terrorising innocent citizens in the Mashegu Local Government Area of the state
It was learnt that in the first operation carried out by the local hunters and led by a 70-year old female spiritualist in Zuguruma, in the Mashegu LGA, saw the killing of no fewer than 40 bandits in an encounter which the villagers said lasted for just 30 minutes.
A commander of the bandits and three others who were said to have gone to town to buy recharge cards and other basic needs for the group were arrested and handed over to the state police command.
One of the villagers simply called Mallam Alhassan, who narrated in Hausa how the operation went, said on approaching the location of the bandits, the woman instructed that the hunters should shoot into the air to draw the bandits out.
“On hearing the gunshots, the bandits were said to have returned fire until they exhaust their bullets and the hunters subsequently descended on them and killed 40 of them,” she said.
She said no casualty was recorded on the side of the hunters.
When contacted the Second-in-Command to the Police Public Relations Officer, Uthman Umar, said he was making effort to reach the police division in the area where the incident occurred.