Security agents engaged bandits four times between Sunday night and Monday morning in what appeared to be coordinated attacks that claimed the lives of two travellers and two bandits along the Kaduna-Abuja and Kaduna-Zaria roads.
Kaduna State Police Command told Daily Trust that an attack along Kaduna-Zaria road on Sunday night was a foiled kidnapping attempt when a group of 40 bandits blocked the road and began shooting sporadically.
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Police spokesman ASP Mohammed Jalige said two travelling to Yobe, Isa Abubakar, 26 and Umar Mohammed, 21, sustained gunshot wounds in the leg.
Jalige said the corpse of the neutralized bandit was deposited at Barau Dikko Specialist hospital.
Also giving account of incidents between Sunday and Monday, Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan said based on feedback from the military, troops of 4 Battalion Nigerian Army overpowered the armed bandits that were shooting at motorists plying the Kwanar Tsintsiya axis of Kaduna-Zaria Road, in Igabi LGA.
Aruwan confirmed that one of the bandits was killed and several others escaped with bullet wounds. “Furthermore, the troops rescued 39 persons traveling to Onitsha from Sokoto from the armed bandits. The troops are still trailing the bandits to areas said to be their enclave,” he said.
He also said that troops also responded to distress calls about bandits attacking and rustling in the same general area and recovered 69 cattle while one of the armed bandits was killed.
He said on the same Sunday, bandits advancing towards the Audu-Jungom axis in Chikun LGA along the Kaduna-Abuja road were repelled by troops and pursued to Ungwan Tuta, adding that the bandits were denied freedom to carry out their nefarious act.
The commissioner said troops rescued some passengers kidnapped around 7pm on the Kaduna-Kachia road and in the early hours of Monday, successfully dislodged bandits along the Kaduna-Abuja road but confirmed that a stray bullet fired by the criminals hit a driver and passenger, killing them.
