Barely twenty-four hours after terrorists killed at least 65 local vigilantes in Sakaba villages and abducted an undisclosed number of civilians including a monarch of Ikara village, 15 soldiers have been reportedly killed in a fresh attack on the Kebbi State community in the Zuru Emirate Council.
In the early hours of Wednesday at Kanya village under Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, the terrorists at least 13 soldiers and burnt their vehicles during the fresh attack. The dead aslo include five Policemen and one vigilante.
The Kebbi State Government confirmed the killing of the soldiers when the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, visited Birnin Kebbi, the State capital, on Wednesday.
Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Umar Babale Yauri, who briefed the Minister, however declined to give the number of the soldiers killed but sources said they were up to 13 in addition to five Policemen and one vigilante member.
According to Yauri, “in fact, only last three days, we lost about 65 vigilantes members. And even yesterday, we lost some military officers engaging with them.
“The issue of banditry was formerly a casual thing in Kebbi but in view of what is currently happening in Zamfara, the bandits are facing a serious challenge from the military, therefore, forced to come into Kebbi especially, the southern part of Kebbi.”
In his response, the Minister said he was in the State on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, to condole with the government and people of Kebbi State over the recent killing of members of vigilante.
Onyeama said the President urged the State to stand firm in dealing with the challenges of the banditry.
“There will be no retreat and we will not be bound with the challenges of banditry and terrorists in the Northern States,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources confirmed that the terrorists who gunned down the soldiers rode on over 200 motorcycles.
In an interview with AFP, Musa Arzika, a resident who said 13 soldiers were killed, added that the attackers came on “around 200 motorcycles riding three on each” and laid siege to the village.
AFP quoted another source as saying five policemen and a vigilante were also killed in the incident.
The battle was said to have erupted in the early hours of Wednesday in Kanya, a village in Danko-Wasagu district as hundreds of heavily armed terrorists gunmen invaded the community, engaging a combined military and police detachment in a three-hour gunfight.
“The death toll stands at 19. They include 13 soldiers, five policemen and one vigilante,” a security personnel, who did not want to be identified, told AFP.
He said eight other security personnel, including four soldiers, were hospitalised with wounds.
“It was an intense fight that lasted more than three hours. The terrorists had the upper hand because of their sheer number.”
Military and police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.