Soldier Declared Missing in Gun Battle With Bandits In Niger State
A gunfight between armed bandits and Nigerian troops have resulted in the search for a missing soldier
Soldier Declared Missing in Gun Battle With Bandits In Niger State
During the gun battle, the soldiers inflicted heavy casualties on the armed terrorists but later ran out of ammunition.
The bandits had made attempts to overrun a military base in the community located in Niger state.
A Nigerian soldier is reportedly missing after armed bandits reportedly numbering about 60 in the early hours of Wednesday, April 21 invaded a military camp in Zazzaga community of Munya local government area of Niger state.
According to a report by Daily Sun, the bandits engaged soldiers in a gunfight, resulting in a number of bandit casualties.
No military personnel was killed in the attack, but a soldier identified as the Regimental Sergeant Major of the camp has been declared missing as at the time of this report.
Sources quoted in the report say the bandits stormed the community at about 4:00 am operating in three groups.
While one group made their way straight to the military camp located at a junior secondary school about 500 metres from the town where they engaged the soldiers in a gunfight, the second group laid ambush on the major road leading to the community.
The third group were said to have made their way to the community to prevent any reinforcements from vigilantes and youth volunteers. After about a two-hour firefight from 4:00 am to 6:00 am, the soldiers ran out of ammunition and made a retreat but not until they inflicted heavy casualties on the bandits.
The source added: “The bandits came around 4:00 am and since that time we were hearing gunshots until about 6:00 am this morning.”
Meanwhile, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has urged security agencies in the country to invade forests and kill all bandits.
El-Rufai made the comment on Tuesday, April 20 at an event in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
He said security agencies must eliminate anyone found in the hideouts of bandits, adding that no inhabitant of forests is innocent.
The Cable quoted him as saying:
“We must go into these forests, nobody living in that forest is innocent, and just kill them all. It is the only way to end this.”
