Military airstrikes aimed at neutralizing bandits had mistakenly
killed 11 soldiers and seven villagers with two soldiers and over 70 villagers
sustaining various degrees of injuries in Malele and Mutungi communities of
Zamfara State.
According to an eye witness, Nuhu Dansadau, the bandits had
on Saturday invaded Malele community of Dansadau Emirate in Maru Local
Government Area, with the youths in the village putting up resistance.
The bandits later reinforced and attacked the village in
large numbers leading to the villagers sending SOS messages to military operatives
in Dansadau who responded swiftly and engaged the outlaws in a shootout.
The bandits reportedly ran to the nearby village of Mutungi
and sought cover in a market from where they exchanged fire with military
operatives. Eyewitnesses who spoke to DAILY POST claimed most of the bandits
were killed or injured.
Dansadau, however, said the bandits’ collaborators had
informed them that soldiers were coming after them, leading to the bandits
setting up an ambush for the soldiers which led to a protracted gun duel.
According to him: “When the tension became too much, the
commanding officer of the army in Dansadau axis requested for the support of
the Nigeria Air Force. It was the air strikes that affected many villagers.”
About 67 villagers in the Mutungi community sustained
various degrees of injuries with seven of the injured Dead-On-Arrival at the
Ahmad Yarima Bakura Specialist Hospital in Gusau, the state capital.
“For 11 soldiers and seven civilians to die and scores
injured by airstrikes is very unfortunate, perplexing and embarrassing to the
Nigerian military,” he lamented.
He also noted that 26 villagers were also seriously injured
in Mutungi community, with 20 others receiving treatment at Dansadau General
hospital at the time of filing this report.
When newsmen visited the Ahmad Yarima Bakura Specialist
Hospital in Gusau, some of the victims said it was a serious gun battle between
the military and the bandits.
The victims claimed they were not injured by bandits or
military operatives but rather sustained injuries during their struggle to
escape.
Some of them spoke fearfully of a bandit kingpin popularly
known as Damuna whom they claimed had kidnapped 225 persons in the nearby
village of Randa, with 61 of the victims killed by guns while 50 others were
slaughtered by knife and 10 subjected to serious tortures that killed them.
When contacted, the 207 Quick Response Command of the
Nigeria Air Force was reluctant to answer questions and directed to get in
touch with the NAF headquarters.
Recall that a large number of armed bandits on Saturday
blocked the Dansadau road that connects many parts of the state, thereby
preventing traders and farmers from carrying out their legitimate endeavours
for several hours.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com