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Leader of vigilante group arrested

    ABIDJAN

    Police in the southeastern Nigerian state of Anambra on Sunday arrested Gilbert Okoye, leader of the Bakassi Boys militia, in connection with the death last month of local politician Ezeodumegwu Okonkwo, the BBC reported. Okoye, who is being detained in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, was not formally charged.

    Okonkwo died on 18 February after being abducted from his home, BBC reported. The Bakassi Boys are a crime-fighting militia that has become notorious for taking the law into its own hands by killing suspected criminals.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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