Airstrikes by a military task team in Niger State have killed over 50 terrorists, with many more fleeing their hideouts.
The military-led operation took place at River Kusasu in the state’s Shiroro Local Government Area.
The bandits who had been terrorizing various villages in the state were killed on Wednesday morning when they attempted to flee the joint security task force in communities around Shiroro and Munya local government areas.
A resident in the region told our correspondent that the bandits, who were fleeing military airstrikes in Kaduna and areas of Niger state, stole a wooden boat and forced the driver to cross the river with them at gunpoint.
According to another source close to the task force, the military operation’s air component spotted the bandits as they attempted to cross the river and blasted them, killing nearly 50 of them and injuring scores more.
According to a community source, the boat driver and his boat aide were lucky to have escaped unharmed, but his boat was entirely destroyed.
In a frenzied search for hideouts, the bandits were claimed to have traveled and crossed over to settlements around Tshohon Kabula, Beni, and Gidan Wire in Niger State.
As of the time of filing this report, a detachment of men from the joint security task force stationed at Mangoro village, a route previously used by the bandits to launch attacks on communities around Sarkin Pawa, the headquarters of Munya LGA, was combing the bush in search of the fleeing bandits.
On the phone, a villager identified as Ibrahim Kure told our correspondent that the arrival of the fleeing bandits frightened the residents, as some of them had fled the village.
Kure stated that the bandits had simply taken over the abandoned homes and food barns of the fleeing residents and had not yet attacked the settlements.
Attempts to reach the Permanent Secretary of Homeland Security, Tariq Abdulraheem, for comment on the incident were futile because he did not return phone calls.
