No fewer than seven security men were on Thursday confirmed to have been killed by bandits in Zamfara state.
The incident which occured on Thursday, was observed to have taken place along the Gusau-Funtua highway in the state.
Confirming the ugly incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Shuhu Dalijan, explained that the joint security forces were responding to a tip-off about a planned attack by bandits on a construction company operating along the highway.
“The bandits had wanted to enter Setraco camp to abduct some staff of Setraco company. We had the information; we sent our men there without knowing that bandits had already laid ambush on the road.”
Adding that, “as the police and Army personnel mobilised to the scene, they were met with heavy gunfire from the bandits, who had positioned themselves strategically to launch a surprise attack.”
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Describing the firefight as intense, with security forces putting up strong resistance before the bandits ultimately overwhelmed them, the command, as made known by the commissioner, will not rest on its oars pending when bandits are flushed out of the state.
“As we were going, they met heavy resistance from the bandits; they opened fire, they exchanged gunfire, and in the process, we lost some army personnel and police personnel too,” Dalijan stated.
Despite the loss, the commissioner applauded the troops for their bravery in repelling the bandits from achieving their aims.
Before the ambush, The Trumpet gathered that the bandits had earlier blocked the ever busy Gusau-Funtua road for about an hour.
The attack, as also noticed by our correspondent, underscores the growing insecurity in Zamfara and the region, as banditry continues to pose a severe threat to local communities and security forces alike.
