Senior Officers, 21 Military Personnel Die In Terrorists Ambush

 

No fewer than 23 military personnel iincluding three senior officers were reportedly killed by the suspected bandits at Kundu via Zungeru in the Wushishi Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger state.

An account has it that 13 of them were killed in an encounter on Sunday, while eight others were killed on Monday in an ambush in which a captain and a major were reportedly involved.

According to reports, the security operatives were trying to block the Kundu route of the criminals who were about to cross with some rustled cattle when they were ambushed, leading to the casualties including five vigilantes who were injured with bullets.

READ ALSO: NAF Helicopter Crashes In Niger State

It was reliably gathered that the bandits had rustled several animals from several communities and tried to cross from Akere to the northern parts of the country.

An eyewitness told journalists that the corpses of the 21 military personnel were deposited at the same Zungeru hospital where the injured vigilante group were receiving medical treatment.

An injured vigilante, Sani Adamu, in a phone interview with Channels Television, said they had a gun battle within a range of less than 100m but they were challenged because the criminals’ weapons were more sophisticated than theirs, leading to casualties.

Another medium, Sahara Reporters claimed that the slain troops were 23, including three senior offices.

It said military source disclosed that the incident occurred on Monday morning around 5am.

According to the source, an army major and two lieutenants with one identified as Y. Alkali were among the victims.

“Nigerian army this morning lost about 23 soldiers, they were ambushed by bandits. One major, two lieutenants were among the victims. In fact, they set some of them ablaze inside the Hilux vehicle.”

Meanwhile, Onyema Nwachukwu, the army spokesperson, is yet to comment on the matter as at the time of this report.