At approximately 9:00 pm, suspected bandits/kidnappers arrived in a Sienna vehicle and parked at a secluded location in Zhibi community, a settlement neighbouring Dei‑Dei town but located in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State. Members of the local vigilante group noticed the suspicious vehicle and alerted Inspector Joshua John, a police officer attached to the 45 Police Mobile Force (PMF), Dei‑Dei. John approached the vehicle and asked the occupants to come out and identify themselves. One of the assailants, who appeared to be the driver, stepped out and immediately shot the police officer, killing him on the spot. The vigilante member who had accompanied him, Joshua Garba, sustained gunshot injuries and died the following day at Kubwa General Hospital.
16 Jul 2025 · Zhibi, Tafa, Niger
Deaths
2
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
2
Perpetrators
Bandits
Response
The Niger Police Command confirmed the attack. The Tafa LGA Chairman said the Bandits escaped into nearby forests. The police commissioner ordered a manhunt. The attack raised concerns among residents of communities close to the Federal Capital Territory.
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Banditry-for-ransom economy, retaliation against security presence, erosion of rural policing
Trajectory
The killing was part of a broader pattern of attacks on security personnel and vigilantes in the FCT‑Niger State borderlands. The incident followed a warning letter left by the assailants after a previous attack on Inspector John's house, which he had repelled. The subsequent arrest of the assailants near Gwantu demonstrated the effectiveness of intelligence‑led operations, but the killing highlighted the persistent vulnerability of community defenders. The attack raised concerns among residents of communities close to the Federal Capital Territory, reflecting the expansion of banditry into Niger's border with Abuja and highlighting insecurity spilling into the FCT's outskirts.
Cycle notes
The killing of Inspector Joshua John and vigilante Joshua Garba in Zhibi mirrors the 15 September 2025 killing of vigilante Bako Pwaza in Kpaduma, FCT. Both incidents form part of a continuing pattern in the FCT–Niger borderlands, where kidnap gangs increasingly target local security actors, particularly vigilantes and police personnel, as part of sustained attacks on community defense structures.
Pattern
Banditry targeting security operatives and vigilantes
Related — Banditry
Bandits killed a man and his brother-in-law in Oke-Ode community, Ifelodun LGA, Kwara State, leaving a widow in grief.
Police engaged armed Bandits along the Kendev/Zaki Biam road in Ukum LGA, Benue State. One person was killed during the confrontation.
Bandits attacked Gulbinboka, Kakihun, and Kumbashi communities in Mairiga district, Niger, abducting about 30 people.