Joint Security Task Force Neutralises Bandits in Niger

Laleye Dipo in Minna

In a counter offensive against the gunmen who invaded Pandogari community last Saturday killing four villagers and abducting several others mostly women, men of the Joint Security Task Force are reported to have neutralised a large number of the gunmen who carried out the attack.

The gunmen were said to have, after the Saturday night attack, gone  into hiding in the forest some few kilometers from Pandogari town. Bu intelligence exposed the hideout of the criminals.

It was gathered that the operatives mapped out their strategies leading to encircling the place where the bandits were hiding.

In the land and air operations that followed, according security sources, the gunmen were caught hands down leading to several of them losing their lives.

A number of the motorcycles used for the attack by the bandits were also reportedly destroyed while some of those kidnapped were reportedly rescued.

Among those neutralized, according to sources, were 6six informants two of them Kabukabu riders, who had been residing in the community for more 10 years.

It was also gathered that the bodies of six  herders who were living in the Pandogari community were among the corpses recovered from the forest fueling speculations that they were part of the bandits.

A community leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, praised the efforts of the security operatives saying: “Since these people were killed by the Joint Taskforce, the entire community has been rejoicing. Everybody in the community is happy with this development becaus we have suffered in the hands of these criminals for long.”

The State Commissioner for Humanitarian and Disaster Management, Mr. Ahmed Sulaiman Yumu, confirmed the attack by bandits on Pandogari town last Saturday but not the counter offensive carried out by the men of the Joint Security Task Force.