Bandits have killed more than 20 soldiers in an ambush along the Zungeru-Tegina Road in Niger State late Sunday night.
Locals who witnessed the tragedy said seven other soldiers and five vigilantes were wounded from gunshot wounds and were taken to the IBB Specialist Hospital, Minna, the state capital.
The gunmen attacked the soldiers who were on their way to some communities in the Wushishi Local Government Area.
The attacks began on Friday with the invasion of some villages in the area in which they forced farmers to flee to Wushishi and Zungeru.
Military sources revealed that 18 army personnel and two officers of the Nigerian Air Force were those killed.
It was learnt that the gunmen were crossing the Zungeru-Tegina road with a large number of cattle around Kundu village in Rafi Local Government Area “when they came in contact with the military personnel drafted to the area and began an exchange of fire, leading to the death of the soldiers.”
A local said: “The information is true; there was an encounter between soldiers and bandits on the outskirts of Kundu village that resulted in the loss of 12 soldiers on Sunday evening.”
Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, (APC, Niger) revealed in Abuja that 13 soldiers were killed in the attack, and urged the FG to dispatch military and security arsenals to the troubled areas to save innocent lives and their property.
Musa, whose constituency Niger east, covers the area of attack, said: “This is a very serious situation happening at a time we are happy that banditry is subsiding in our various communities in Niger State.
“The Federal Government should urgently deploy all its arsenal to curtail further spread of the attacks.
“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 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 the lives and property of our people.”
