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Nigerian police say they found the bodies of 41 men slaughtered in a northern area known as a hiding place for criminal gangs.
Eighteen bodies were found in a river on Sunday while 23 others were found in a nearby forest in the Zurmi area in the state of Zamfara, said Police Commissioner Kenneth Ebrimson
He stated that the suspects were identified as members of a much feared local self-defense group "who decided to carry out extrajudicial executions".
Police believe the victims were gang members involved in kidnapping cattle robberies.
The people of Zamfara have been terrorized for years by gangs of cattle thieves and kidnappers who he says are not residents of the area. attack villages, steal cows and kidnap people for ransom.
As a hiding place, the gangs use the Ruggu forest that straddles the states of Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna.
The attacks prompted villagers to form militia groups to protect themselves, but they were also accused of bringing justice and murdering suspected bandits.
These killings attract retaliation from motorcycle gangs. In 1965, the Nigerian government deployed troops to Zamfara to fight gangs while police banned militiamen from ending retaliatory killings
