Bandits in Nigeria have killed 37 people in fresh attacks on communities in North West Kaduna state where seven abducted Chinese nationals were rescued by special forces from the militants’ cell.
The bandits on Sunday night attacked Malagum and Sokwong communities of Kagoro Chiefdom in the Kaura Local Government Area of the state where they also burnt down more than 100 houses.
The attack came less than 48 hours after special troops of the Nigerian Air Force stormed the den of bandits in the area in a special operation, killing many of them and rescuing the Chinese citizens who had been held hostage for six months.
The Speaker of Kaura Local Government Legislative Council, Mr Ahmed Abutu, confirmed on Monday that the bandits carried out the coordinated attacks at 11pm on Sunday.
Locals flee
Besides burning the houses, they also destroyed many vehicles and motorcycles. According to him, all houses in the Sokwong community were completely razed by the bandits while the entire area has been deserted.
The news of the attack has cut short the celebration that heralded the rescue of the seven Chinese nationals who were kidnapped in June.
The Nigerian Air Force’s Special Forces under the 271 NAF detachment conducted the operation in some of the cells of the bandits in Kaduna state and successfully rescued the expatriates who were working at a mining site.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state expressed satisfaction at the report and commended the Chief of Air Staff, as well as the commander and men of the 271 NAF detachment for the daring operation by the Special Forces.
Boko Haram surrender
Meanwhile, in the heat of a proactive operation against terrorists in north east Nigeria, four top commanders of the Boko Haram terrorist group have surrendered to the Nigerian troops in Borno State.
The Commanders, Mala’ana (Khaid), referred to as ‘governor’, Abu Dauda (Munzir), Modu Yalee, and Bin Diska, (Nakif) laid down their arms. The insurgents came out of Sambisa forest where they had been hiding and waging campaigns of terror against Nigeria.
The sources said that they were former commanders of the late Abubakar Shekau at Njimiya camp in the Lake Chad region of Borno state. They surrendered for fear of battlefield elimination due to the sustained onslaught on the terrorists’ hideouts as well as rivalry attacks.
Maj-Gen Christopher Musa, the theatre commander of “Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), has said about 83,000 Boko Haram members have so far surrendered and are currently undergoing rehabilitation at various facilities. Musa said the kinetic and non-kinetic approaches led the terrorists to massively surrender.
The theatre commander who described the operations of the command as a success said over half of the 83, 000 were children who if they had not surrendered could be fighters too.
“God has been very magnanimous for us, we have received a lot of surrendered individuals. We are moving almost 83, 000 now, out of that number, over 41, 000 are children.
“The terrorists are trying to develop a new set of terrorists, their own children and that would have been very dangerous because you know normally for children when they grow up and whatever they see is what they copy. “So, if they grow and think killing is natural, they become very dangerous.
The theatre commander who commended the chief of army staff for his support said that the military and other security agencies will continue to devise and implement effective strategies to bring terrorism in the region to a speedy end.’’
He said the military would take all necessary steps to have peace and are determined to achieve that.
