About12 soldiers, who had been on special operation in Birnin
Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, were feared killed on
Tuesday, when scores of bandits attacked, to avenge the killing of their
leader, Buhari Tsoho, popularly called Buharin Daji.
Daji was reportedly killed in a shoot-out with security men in Zamfara State, about two weeks ago.
But, the Nigerian Army has denied the report.
The Nigerian Army Headquarters in Abuja, denied the killings.
Director of Army/Public Relations, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, said army headquarters is yet to receive the said report.
Chukwu also said he “cannot confirm the authenticity or otherwise of the report.”
Regardless, the attack, which occurred at
Kampanin Doka village in the local government area, happened at a time
when the federal government was trying to secure life and property of
road users, who have been falling victim of armed robbery and kidnapping
activities on the Kaduna inter-state road in recent months.
A source, pleading anonymity, said that
the bandits attacked the soldier’s camp between 8pm and 9pm on Tuesday,
killing three soldiers in a hole and nine others in the camp, bringing
the number of fallen soldiers to 12.
“We gathered that the soldiers had caught
a thief in Maganda village and were taking him to their camp when some
personnel of the Nigeria Police Force asked them to hand over the thief
to them but the soldiers refused.
“The same police followed the soldiers to
their camp in Kampanin Doka and again asked them to hand over the thief
to them but the soldiers still refused. Around 8pm on Tuesday, bandits
attacked the soldiers’ camp and killed three soldiers in a hole and nine
others in a tent in the camp.
“Residents of the community kept calling
us when the attack was taking place, but there was nothing we could do
since we did not have any weapons. All we did was to alert the emir and
other security personnel with the hope that they would come to their
aid,” the source volunteered.
A witness confirmed that he saw 11
bodies after the attack. He said that men of Nigerian Army were still
waiting for directive on the next line of action from the military
authorities, as at the time of filing this report.
Assistant Director, Public Relations, 1
Mechanised Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Col. Muhammad Dole, did not
respond to calls and text message sent to his mobile telephone for
comments.
However, a social media message by a
community-based organisation, the Birnin Gwari Vanguard for Security and
Good Governance, partly corroborated the earlier sources