At least one officer, 8 soldiers and two airmen were\u200e shot dead on Satuday
\nduring a military operation in Kopa, Dagma and Gagaw villages of Bosso
\nLocal Government Area, Niger State.<\/p>\n
According to statement released late Saturday night by Nigria’s Army
\nSpokesman, Col.Sani Usman also confirmed that one sol\u200edies is still
\nmissing while two others suffered serious injuries.<\/p>\n
“Following covert surveillance and intelligence reports on the activities
\nof some gun runners and armed bandits in Kopa, Dagma and Gagaw villages of
\nBosso Local Government Area, Niger State, troops of 31 Artillery Brigade,
\n1 Division Nigerian Army, in conjunction with Nigeria Air Force detachment
\non Internal Security\u00a0 Operation MESA went on quick cordon and search in
\nthe affected areas to recover suspected weapon cache and arrest the
\nsuspected persons and the armed bandits.<\/p>\n
“Contrary to\u00a0 statements attributed to some questionable vested interests,
\nthe troops were on legitimate official duty aimed at safeguarding lives
\nand property of citizen in the area.<\/p>\n
While approaching and deploying to carry out their lawful duty,\u00a0 the
\ntroops came under\u00a0 simultaneous and sporadic shootings in all the three
\nlocations. They however responded as necessary in line with the rules of
\nengagement. Sadly, an officer and 8 soldiers of the Nigerian Army and 2
\nAirmen of the Nigeria Air Force lost their lives in the line of national
\nduty. Additionally, one soldier is still missing while 2 of their
\ncolleagues were seriously wounded.<\/p>\n
“The suspected gun runners and armed bandits also burnt down 4 operational
\nvehicles and vandalized 2 others.\u00a0 Bandits also carted away 4 AK-47 rifles
\nand one Fabrique Nationale (FN) rifle belonging to the deceased soldiers.<\/p>\n
“The troops also killed 8 of the armed bandits and arrested 57 others.
\nThey also recovered large quantity of arms and ammunition. The recovered
\nitems include; 3 AK-47 rifles,10 Local AK-47 Rifles, 9 Locally made
\nPistols, 6 Revolver guns, which fires 7.62mm (Special ammunition), 45
\nLoaded Dane guns, 10 Clubs and Cudgels, 41 Arrows, 18 Bow cases, 122
\nCutlasses and Machetes as well as\u00a0 20 Daggers. Other items recovered
\ninclude 31 Axes, 63 rounds of 7.62 (Special) Ammunition, 10 Bajaj
\nMotorcycles, Assorted Charms and Amulets, 2 Vehicles, 38 mobile telephone
\nhandsets, a wristwatch, 5 Identity Cards,\u00a0 Passport Photographs, Cash sum
\nof N23,870.00k, 5 Japanese Yen and 35 different denominations of old
\nNigerian currency, 15 Catapults, 8 Torchlights, 2 Gun Powder bottles, 4
\nempty cases of Ammunition and 41 Cartridges. The troops also seized a
\nmilitary Waist Belt and a pair of military Combat Boots.<\/p>\n
“It is important to stress that the nefarious activities of the gun
\nrunners and the armed bandits has direct bearing with the influx of
\nweapons and general insecurity in some parts of the Federal Capital
\nTerritory and the North West geo-political zone of the country.<\/p>\n
“The same gun runners have been confirmed to be the suppliers of arms to
\narmed robbery gangs that were involved in series of armed robbery attacks
\nalong Minna-Bida road and the general environment.<\/p>\n
” Although the situation is under control, the military will not rest on
\nits oars until all those involved are arrested and brought to justice. The
\nmilitary will continue to deal with any violent threat to our national
\nsecurity. All law abiding citizens are enjoined to go about their lawful
\nduties as the cordon and search operation continues in the general area
\nand if necessary expand to other identified areas to keep our people safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At least one officer, 8 soldiers and two airmen were\u200e shot dead on Satuday during a military operation in Kopa, Dagma and Gagaw villages of Bosso Local Government Area, Niger…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n