Nigerian revenge attack leaves 22 dead

Armed robbers in eastern Nigeria have killed up to 22 people in a revenge attack on a citizens anti-crime group.

Robbers in the Anambra state town of Awkuzu missed their main target, a local anti-crime volunteer, who was away from home - but killed his two wives and burned his house.

The 30-strong gang had accused volunteer crime-fighter Francis Okafor of orchestrating the killings of some of their colleagues, and turning up the heat on them in the area in general, reports said.

Mr Okafor said townspeople had been tipped the raid was coming and laid out ambushes, not realising the robbers had already infiltrated.

After burning Mr Okafor's home, robbers moved on to others - killing residents who came out in answer to their neighbours' cries for help.

Compounding the death toll, police and residents rushing to the scene flagged down a bus, apparently to ask its occupants for help - not realising the bus was carrying the fleeing robbers.

The robbers opened fire, killing five residents and two policemen.

Robbers got away in the bus, and in a Mercedes stolen in the raid.

State Governor Chinwoke Mbadiniju ordered security intensified in the area, and deployment of a controversial vigilante group called Anambra Vigilante Services.

With crime rampant in Nigeria, citizen anti-crime groups and vigilante gangs are common - including some known for carrying swords and beheading suspected criminals on the spot.