By Mario Deepromoter
Two residents of Bassa community in the Shiroro Local Government Area in Niger State were killed by a group of terrorists who invaded their community on Wednesday morning.
A community source who confirmed this incident to SaharaReporters identified one of the deceased persons as Zakari, adding that three other residents were critically injured by the bandits.
The source added that the bandits also killed two personnel of the Department of State Services and injured two others during the attack that started around 5 am on Wednesday.
According to a community source, the Nigerian military later intervened, overpowering the bandits and eliminating at least 20 of their members, thereby ending the siege.
This was also confirmed by a counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama in his recent report.
Zagazola said intelligence sources told him that the attackers, numbering over 100, were met with fierce resistance from the DSS personnel, who lost two of their own in the battle.
He said, “The Nigerian Air Force responded swiftly to the attack, unleashing a barrage of airstrikes that inflicted heavy casualties on the bandits.
“As of the latest update, the bodies of at least 28 bandits have been recovered, with many more scattered across the area.
“In addition to the human toll, several weapons and motorcycles used by the bandits have been recovered by security forces.”
When media contacted Niger State Police Spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun for comments and update, he said: “Let me verify and get back.”
He had yet to get back at the time of filing this report.