Gunmen kill ‘lieutenant, seven soldiers’ in Kaduna

Armed bandits have killed an officer and six soldiers after ambushing troops of the Nigerian Army in Rigachiku, a garrison community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

PR Nigeria reports that the attack occurred on Monday when the troops were returning from a clearance operation in which many terrorists were killed.

Security sources told the platform that a fierce gunfight erupted between the troops and the terrorists, among whom many were killed.

The attack followed weeks of sustained military operations along the Zaria-Kaduna highway, where many terrorists were reportedly killed.

The Nigerian Army has not issued an official statement about the incident. An enquiry sent to its spokesperson, Appolonia Anele, had not been responded to.

However, reinforcement operations have reportedly been launched in the area to prevent further attacks and track down the assailants.

Kaduna State has suffered from years-long multidimensional violence, including communal clashes and farmers-herders’ crisis, which has now transformed into banditry and terrorism, and has affected communities within Igabi, Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Kagoro, Kachia, Jema’a, and Kajuru, among others.

The farmers-herders’ crisis mostly takes an ethno-religious dimension involving nomadic Fulani herders and indigenous sedentary farmers, especially in Southern Kaduna, where armed gangs have killed and displaced many people.

In some parts of Kaduna, such as Birnin Gwari, a federal government-backed peace deal with (Fulani) bandits has reduced highway kidnappings and rampant raids on villages, according to locals.

A youth leader in Kaduna said while Birnin Gwari currently enjoys a “relative peace”, the terrorists with whom the government had the peace deal have shifted their focus to other parts of the state.

“But there are still isolated attacks in Birnin Gwari,” he said. (Premium Times)