There was pandemonium at Minna, Niger State capital, when a suspected member of Boko Haram sect engaged security operatives in a gun duel in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Security operatives were said to have launched an operation at the Gebganu area of Minna, where the house of the suspect is located.
Daily Trust gathered that no fewer than 150 AK47 rifles, about 3, 000 live ammunition, explosives, a rocket launcher and anti-aircraft rifle were recovered from the house.
A night watchman from a neighbouring house, Mubarak Abubakar, was reportedly hit by a stray bullet and is receiving treatment at the emergency unit of the IBB Specialist Hospital, Minna.
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Residents said the operation, which started around 12am, lasted for hours as the suspect engaged security operatives in a fierce gun duel before he eventually escaped.
He was reported to have used a rocket launcher to bring down part of the fence of his house through which he escaped, but his wife and children were reportedly arrested by security operatives.
The suspect was reported to have started firing when he noticed the arrival of security operatives through the CCTV cameras he installed in his house.
A security source confirmed to Daily Trust that about 150 AK47 rifles, about 3, 000 live ammunition as well as explosives, rocket launcher and anti-aircraft rifle were recovered from the house.
Daily Trust gathered that the suspect, who has been on the watch list of security operatives, bought the house and moved in two years ago.
When our correspondent visited the scene on Tuesday morning, the doors, walls and windows were pierced with bullets while part of the two-bedroom flat was brought down by the severity of the gun battle.
One of the residents said, “We didn’t sleep last night. The sound of the guns between the suspect and security operatives was too heavy; my bed and the ceiling of my house were shaking. They sounded like bombs. The security operatives passed through the front of our house when they were going but we didn’t know what they were going to do until we heard the sound of a gun.”
The police and state government are yet to react to the operation as at the time of filing this report.
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