A joint security team comprising troops of the Nigerian Army, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), officers of the Nigerian Police Force, and personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Wednesday ambushed notorious bandit kingpin Ibrahim Bastuji and his fighters as they allegedly prepared to attack residents and a school in Iluke Bunu, Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
Security sources said the operation, supported by local vigilantes, resulted in the killing of several bandits, with Bastuji believed to have been among those neutralised.
Sources disclosed that the operation followed intelligence obtained by the DSS indicating that the gang leader was plotting to kidnap schoolchildren and use them as bargaining chips to secure the release of family members currently in security custody.
Bastuji has been linked to several deadly attacks and kidnappings across the North-Central region. Among them was the May 2026 attack on a church night vigil at Ori-Oke Ijaye in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, where three worshippers were killed and 15 others abducted.
He was also implicated in the December 2025 attack on the First Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Ayetoro-Kiri, Kabba/Bunu LGA of Kogi State, during which one worshipper was killed and 20 others kidnapped.
Security sources further linked him to the November 2025 attack on a Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, which left two worshippers dead and 38 others abducted. He was also accused of masterminding the abduction of 24 persons, including four Chinese expatriates, in early 2025.
Other attacks attributed to the bandit leader include the April 2026 kidnapping of civilians and foreign nationals in the Mapo area of Kogi State, the January 2026 blockade of the Lokoja-Abuja Highway that resulted in multiple deaths and abductions, and an assault on joint military and vigilante forces in Koton Karfe LGA that claimed the lives of three vigilante members and injured several soldiers.
Originally from Katsina State, Bastuji reportedly began his criminal activities in Zamfara State alongside the notorious Kachalla Dan-Karami Gwaska before relocating his operations to Niger and Kwara states.
Under sustained security pressure, he later established a base in the Asawa Mountains near Koton Karfe in Kogi State, from where he coordinated kidnappings and other violent crimes across the Kogi-Kwara axis.
Reacting to the development, community leader Bello Abdullahi described the operation as a major breakthrough in the fight against banditry.
“The elimination of Ibrahim Bastuji marks a significant milestone in the effort to restore peace and security across the Kogi-Kwara axis and the wider North-Central region. His death effectively dismantles a criminal network responsible for years of terror, mass abductions and the killing of innocent civilians, worshippers and security personnel,” Abdullahi said.