Soldiers stationed in Pandogari town in Rafi Local Council of Niger State have successfully repelled an attack on the community attempted by over 100 heavily armed bandits.
The Guardian reported that the bandits came from Zamfara State to kill, kidnap residents of the community, and potentially loot their belongings.
A local vigilante official, whose identity cannot be revealed due to security reasons, reported that the bandits’ first target was the military base in Pandogari. It was reported that the soldiers engaged them in a gun battle for hours.
According to the same vigilante official, armed soldiers who came with 20 trucks from Kagara and another 10 from Birnin Gwari came as reinforcements for the team at Pandogari. It was reported that the soldiers utilised rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy-duty weapons and pushed the bandits back into the forest.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration of protecting terrorists attacking the North.
National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko claimed that the use of kid gloves on the terrorists was because “they are of same ethnic Fulani and Muslims with the President and virtually all the heads of the security apparatus” under Buhari.
“HURIWA, as well as millions of rational Nigerians, are not convinced that the armed forces headed by persons of same section of Nigeria and same religion are actually carrying out any military actions targeted at eradicating the terrorists in the North West,” said Onwubiko.
