Mastermind of Eruku, Kwara And Other Church Attacks Feared Killed in Security Forces Ambush
…Kidnap plot on another set of Students foiled
Nigerian security forces made up of troops of the Nigerian Army, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), officers of the
Nigerian Police Force and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDCDC), on Wednesday ambushed notorious bandit kingpin, Ibrahim Bastuji and his fighters as they made to attack a school and residents of Iluke Bunu, Kabba LGA of Kogi State.
According to security sources, the security forces, supported by Kogi State vigilantes, killed scores of the bandits. Their leader, Bastuji, was believed killed in the ambush.
The sources further disclosed that the operation to ambush and eliminate the bandit kingpin came on the heels of intelligence acquired by the DSS on his plot to kidnap school children as hostages to bargain the release of his family members currently in security custody.
The bandit kingpin is believed to be responsible for multiple attacks in the North central region. These include the May 2026 invasion of a church night vigil at Ori-Oke Ijaye in Ekiti Local Government Area (LGA) of Kwara State, in which three worshippers were killed and 15 others abducted.
He is fingered for the December 2025 attack on the First Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Ayetoro-Kiri, in Kabba/Bunu LGA of Kogi State. A worshipper was killed in the attack, while 20 others were kidnapped.
He is also held responsible for the November 18, 2025 attack on Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Ekiti State, which left two worshippers dead and 38 others in captivity. In early 2025,, he was linked to the abduction of 24 persons including four Chinese expatriates. Security sources also blame him for the April 2026 kidnapping of civilians, including foreign nationals in the Mapo area of Kogi State, and the January 2026 midnight blockade of the Lokoja–Abuja Highway during which multiple commuters were killed and several others abducted.
He is believed to be behind the attack on joint military and vigilante forces in Koton Karfe LGA, Kogi State, which claimed the lives of three vigilante members and left several troops injured.
Originally from Katsina State, the dead kingpin initially operated in Zamfara State alongside Kachalla Dan-Karami Gwaska before relocating his criminal network to Niger and Kwara States.
Sustained security pressure eventually forced Bastuji and his gang to establish a new base in the Asawa Mountains in Kogi LGA, near Koton Karfe, from where he continued to coordinate kidnappings and other violent criminal activities across the Kogi-Kwara axis.
“The elimination of Ibrahim Bastuji marks a significant milestone in the sustained effort to restore peace and security across the Kogi-Kwara axis and the broader North-Central region. His death effectively decapitates a criminal network responsible for years of terror, mass abductions, and the killing of innocent worshippers, security personnel, and civilians,” a community leader, Bello Abdullahi declared.
