Niger: Bandits raze military base, kill 6 security personnel, 7 civilians inside community

Bandits on Thursday launched another attack on a military base in Allawa in Shiroro local government area of Niger state and killed six security personnel.

The bandits, it was learnt, after burning down the base, stormed surrounding villages during which seven villagers were reportedly killed, 10 others abducted while they also stole seven motorcycles.

A villager from the area who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “the bandits attacked at about 2am Thursday and stormed the camp of the Joint Security Task Force comprised of the Army, Police, Civil Defence and Vigilantes at Allawa. They opened fire on them unaware and killed five Soldiers and one policeman, while many sustained various degrees of injuries.

“The communities attacked include Allawa, Manta, Gurmana, Bassa and Kokki  in Shiroro local government area.Also a popular businessman in Bassa village in the  whose name was given as Alhaji Sule was killed on his farm by the armed men who also made away with several Motorcycles belonging to the villagers.”

President Shiroro youth movement Mohammed Sani Idris said the bandits numbering about 100 were armed with AK47, adding that they operated for more than five hours unchallenged. 

Idris appealed to both the federal and state government to double up their effort in rescuing the lives of people at the various communities. 

Also speaking on the incident, Co-convener, Concerned Shiroro Youths, Sani Abubakar Yusuf Kokki, said five Soldiers and one Civil Defence Officer were killed in Allawa.

According to him, “the criminals took the personnel of the Joint Security Task Force unaware and opened fire on them. In the process, unfortunately they successfully burnt down the Camp to ashes including the operational vehicles and also gruesomely killed about six personnel (five Army Officers and one Civil Defence Officer) while many others sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries.” 

He lamented that the entire Shiroro local government has become a war zone with bandits ransacking homes, killing and maiming innocent villagers.

“Their intention is to rid the area of security presence so that they will always have a field day,” Koki said

When contacted, the Secretary to the State Government {SSG) Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane confirmed the incident to Journalists.

He said, “Yes, there was an attack at our army base at Allawa, usually it is a deployment point where we deploy soldiers and security agencies to black spots in that area from that base.”

He added, “Allawa you know is a huge forest it has become a sanctuary for bandits. What we have done is to deploy security agencies to be able to address and respond to attacks in that area. Unfortunately this is what happened.”

He said security agencies including the Commissioner of Police, the Brigade Commander have been dispatched to the area to verify and validate what has happened”.

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