No fewer than 21 military personnel including senior officers were reportedly killed by suspected bandits at Kundu via Zungeru in the Wushishi Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger state.
It was gathered that 13 of them were killed in an encounter on Sunday, while eight others were also killed on Monday in an ambush in which a captain and a major were reportedly involved.
INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the security operatives were trying to prevent the criminals from escaping with some rustled cattle when the bandits ambushed them, leading to the casualties, including five vigilantes who were injured by bullets.
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According to Channels TV, the bandits had rustled several animals from several communities and tried to cross from Akere to the northern parts of the country.
An eyewitness who spoke to the above mentioned media said that the corpses of the 21 military personnel were deposited at the same Zungeru hospital where the injured vigilante group were receiving medical treatment.
An injured vigilante, Sani Adamu, told journalists that the assailants and army troops had a gun battle within a range of less than 100m, but they were challenged because the criminals’ weapons were more sophisticated than theirs, leading to casualties.
