No fewer than 13 soldiers were killed by bandits in Niger state on Sunday. The military also lost helicopter during the evacuation of the casualties.
The incident occurred around Kundu in the Rafi local government area of the state.
It was gathered that not less than 10 other security men were injured in the deadly attack with the bandits.
It was also gathered that about 50 bandits were killed in the encounter with their bodies left in the forest while those that were injured were ferried away by members of their gang.
It was further gathered that a military helicopter was used to convey the dead to the Federal Medical Centre Zingeru before a vehicle came Monday morning to evacuate the corpses to unknown destination. The military has however confirmed that a helicopter on evacuation mission crashed Monday in Niger State.
A statement issued by the Spokesman of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said the aircraft crashed in Chukuba Village in Niger State.
It said preliminary investigation had commenced to ascertain the cause of the air mishap.
"A Nigerian Air Force MI-171 Helicopter on a casualty evacuation mission crashed today, 14 August 2023 at about 1.00pm near Chukuba Village in Niger State.
"The aircraft had departed Zungeru Primary School enroute Kaduna but was later discovered to have crashed near Chukuba Village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
"Efforts are currently ongoing to rescue the crew and passengers on board the helicopter, while preliminary investigations have commenced to determine the probable cause of the crash", it said.
The statement was however silent on the slain soldiers.
Sources said it was possible that the slain soldiers were from either Kaduna or Maiduguri, deployed to neutralize bandits that had been terrorising residents in Rafi and Wushishi local government areas of the state in recent times.
However, it was learnt that the operation leaked to the bandits, resulting in their laying ambush for the soldiers and the high casualty figures.
As a result of the incident, civilians in Akere , Kundu, and neighbourhood have abandoned their homes and are now taking refuge in Zingeru town.
All efforts to get confirmation of the story was abortive as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Security Alhaj Tareek Abdulrahim did not pick several calls made to his phone.
An officer at the 31 Artillery Brigade in Minna directed THISDAY to the Director of Communication of the Nigeria Army saying "We are not allowed to speak to the press, please contact Abuja"
The Convener, Shiroro Concerned Youths, Mr. Sanni Kokki, in a telephone interview with journalists in Abuja on Monday afternoon, said:"As we are talking now villagers living around the area are all now moving towards Erena.
"This is another problem again because people are being displaced from their traditional homes to unknown destinations.
"We are having another humanitarian crisis in our hands with the economic challenges confronting our people."
When contacted , the Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Mohammed Sani Musa, lamented the situation, describing it as highly unfortunate.
He called on the federal government to dispatch all its military and security arsenal to the troubled areas in order to save innocent lives and their property.
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Musa said, "This is a very serious situation happening at a time we are happy that the issue of banditry is subsiding in our various communities in Niger State.
"The Federal Government should as a matter of urgency, deploy all its arsenal in order to curtail further spread.
"We have been having a reduction in cases of attacks but now it appears as if there is a serious escalation of the situation.
"The most alarming situation now is that the attacks look like a planned work because the bandits are carrying out their operations simultaneously in many parts of Niger State.
"Government should please, as a matter of urgency, take a drastic action on it and save lives and property of our people."
Meanwhile palpable fear has gripped residents of Zungeru as a result of the incident because it is believed that remnants of the bandits were still in the forest.
