Bandits, Tuesday evening laid an ambushed on troops in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna State, killing 11 soldiers and wounded three.
Our Correspondent gathered that the bandits laid siege on the troops at Kampanin Doka village of Birnin Gwari.
The soldiers are among a special detachment of troops sent to the village to ensure security for expatriates and others working on a new road linking Zamfara State with Kaduna through Dansadau-Dangulbi and Birnin Gwari.
It would be recalled one of the foreign engineers working at the site was last year kidnapped by unknown gun men but was later released. After that incident, all the workers, including the expatriates fled the site but were mobilized to come back on the conditions that will be provided security.
A former Vice Chairman of the local government who pleaded anonymity said the bandits attacked the soldier’s camp between 9pm on Tuesday killing 11.
“We gathered that the soldiers had caught a thief in a village called Maganda in the area and were taking him back to their camp when some personnel of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) asked them to hand over the thief to them which the soldiers refused.
“The same police followed the soldiers to their camp in Kampanin Doka and again asked them to hand over the thief to them, but the soldiers still refused. Around 9m on Tuesday, bandits attacked the Army troop in the camp,” he said.
He added, “Members of the community kept calling us when the attack was taking place, but there was nothing we could do since we don’t have any weapons, all we did was to alert the emir and other security personnel with the hope that they could come to their aid.
“I can confirm that 11 Soldiers were killed by the bandits,” he said.
Another source said, the same bandits had a day before that attacked Maganda village and shot nine people who are receiving treatment in the hospital.
He called on the state government to find a way to tackling the menace of armed bandits in the area saying, “It is so unfortunate that the government has not deemed it fit to declare the bandits as terrorists and are still describing the attacks as farmer/herdsmen conflict, this is not the case, in fact, now there are no cows in the area because of banditry.”
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, 1 Division Headquarters Kaduna, Colonel Muhammad Dole said, “We are preparing a press release which will be released to the media as soon as possible, please give me some time.
A group, Birnin Gwari Vanguard for Security and Good Governance corroborated the story. It read, “A military detachment and members of the vigilante in Doka village has successfully repelled an attack by armed bandits numbering about 120 on a motorcycles around 10.05pm on Tuesday night.
“The attackers had earlier attacked Maganda District on Monday on a revenged mission over the killing of Buhari Tsoho a. K. a Buharin Daji. Nine people critically injured at Maganda, mostly Vigilante group.
“After Maganda, the Armed bandits moved toward Kampanin Doka at the junction road leading to Gwaska and Dansadau. But gallant soldiers and brave youths of Doka successfully repelled the attack. Many casualties on the side of the bandits recorded and they escaped with the wounded.
“Although we had informed the Kaduna State government on the attack three days ago and the military, government officials dismissed our credible information by not taken appropriate action to forestall the attacks by armed bandit.
“Once more, we the people of Birnin-Gwari are under siege and in need of protection of the government. Our youth and volunteers are ready to assist security agencies to confront armed bandits in our territory.
“We will remain vigilant and await government of Mall. Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai response to this security challenges in Birnin-Gwari local government,” they said.
