A potential terrorist attack was averted on Tuesday by the Nigeria Air Force’s strike after dozens of armed bandits were killed while on an attack mission, residents of the areas in the target of the assailants told PREMIUM TIMES.
The terrorists ran out of luck as they were hit by the airstrikes which occurred around the Sangeko community of Kwiambama Ward in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the terrorists earlier gathered at Babban Doka community in the Dansadau District, late Tuesday. They were said to be from a combination of terrorists from the camps of Dogo Gide, Ali Kachallah, and others, who are believed to be in control of the dreaded ungoverned Kwiambana forest.
Residents told PREMIUM TIMES that the terrorists appeared to be on a mission to attack a satellite military camp located at Bina in Danko Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
“The terrorists left the Babban Doka community around 9 a.m., Tuesday. While passing through the outskirts of Dansadau town, soldiers stationed at the Dansadau town fired multiple gunshots to register their presence and scare them away.
“The attack was conducted by an airstrike after intelligence was provided to the security operatives. After the airstrike, soldiers who were stationed at the satellite camp at Bina later arrived at the bombarded scene with armoured vehicles and discovered some of the bodies of the terrorists left behind.
“Some of the terrorists escaped with the bodies of their colleagues and deposited them for burial at farming communities under their control,” one of the residents told PREMIUM TIMES, asking not to be named for security reasons.
“As I speak to you now, the terrorists have left behind corpses for burial at Babban Doka, Dangurgu, Maigwangwala, and Madada communities. They asked the locals to bury them. At Gajeren Kauye community some of the injured victims died this morning,” one of the sources added.
Residents described the airstrikes as “unusual achievements in recent times”, adding that the attack was successful following local intelligence provided and the timely response of the Nigerian Air Force.
The Air Force’s spokesperson, Edward Gabkwet, an air commodore, did not respond to phone calls and text messages when our reporter reached him on Thursday to comment on the operation.
The coordinating point of attacks
The Kwiambana Game Reserve, which has turned into a criminal hideout, is located at the Dansadau Emirate in the Maru Local Government Area. It covers 492 square kilometres out of the 1180 square kilometres of Zamfara State and is believed to be the coordinating point of terrorist attacks across the North-west and North-central states.
The Game Reserve forest, which transverses Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna, and Niger states, is largely controlled by terrorists’ kingpins, Messrs Kachallah and Gide.
Their operations, unlike other armed groups in the regions, forbid their gang members from attacking villages around the Kwiambana Game Reserve. They primarily target government institutions, security formations, officials, schools, and travellers.
This has endeared them to locals in their areas of operation who are grateful to them for being spared.
In the Dansadau district, the bandits immediately took control of any community without the presence of security personnel, sacked their traditional rulers, and imposed a protection levy on the residents.
culled from Premium Times Nigeria
