Troops kill nine bandits along Abuja-Kaduna road — Official

Nigerian troops early Tuesday killed nine suspected bandits along the dreaded Abuja-Kaduna road, the Kaduna State government has said.

A statement signed by the Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security and Homeland Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said the troops acting on actionable intelligence stormed the highway and engaged the bandits.

“According to the operational feedback, troops acted on intelligence that the bandits were attempting to cross over from the eastern part of the Kaduna-Abuja road to the western part, with a large herd of rustled cattle.

“The herders whose cattle had been rustled from the eastern part of the route alerted the military for immediate action.

“An ambush was successfully laid by the troops, as the bandits walked into the killing zone and were welcomed with a hail of bullets,” the official added.

He said ”after the firefight, a search of the area yielded the following”:

– One empty magazine
– One set of complete army camouflage
– One set of desert boots
– Seven blankets
– Two Tecno Mobile phones
– One kaftan outfit
– Ropes for tying cattle

” At first light this morning, a further search revealed the corpse of one bandit, 16 dead cows and three wounded cows.”

The statement said ”seven more bandits died from ferocious gunshot wounds sustained in the ambush. Troops, as of the time of this update, are still conducting vigorous search patrols in the general area.”

Another foiled attack

“In separate feedback, troops and police this morning foiled another attempt by bandits to cross the Kaduna-Abuja highway with rustled cattle, this time around the Greenfield University.

“The troops, guided by some local volunteers who pointed them in the direction of the bandits’ movement, engaged the criminals in a firefight. Sadly one of the local volunteers lost his life.

“One bandit’s corpse was found, along with several rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition,” Mr Aruwan said.