Running battles between heavily armed bandits and Nigerian security forces have claimed more than 80 lives since March 6, The Epoch Times has learned. The firefights between motorcycle-riding bandits armed with assault rifles and small landowners using homemade single-shot rifles have been frequent since early January and fit into the emerging picture of lawlessness spreading across five of Nigeria’s northwestern states. At least 18 soldiers and a policeman lost their lives on March 8 when a bandit gang ambushed a convoy of vehicles in scenic Kebbi state, known for herds of transient elephants and hippopotamuses in its Sokoto River. Deputy Gov. Samaila Dabai Yombe said a convoy of armed security protecting him was ambushed by bandits in the town of Kanya, in southeastern Kebbi as they made their way toward Wusagu County, according to Reuters. The bandit gang was unnamed but could have been among dozens that use the roads …