A senior army officer, a major, was killed in an ambush by bandits on Thursday evening in Malali village, Kankara local government area of Katsina state, News About Nigeria has learned.
The commander, whose name was withheld, was responding to a distress call to reinforce and repel an attack on the village.
Sources revealed that the commander was travelling in a Hilux vehicle instead of an armoured personnel carrier (APC) when his vehicle was waylaid and he was shot in the head.
The incident occurred along the Zangon Pawwa Road, an area notorious for banditry.
The source said, “As you know, Malali is along Zangon Pawwa Road, and that area is completely taken over by bandits. Whenever there is an attack, the security agents usually ask for reinforcement from the Maraban Dan’Ali camp, and this new commander would promptly respond.
“This time around, they asked for his reinforcement and he came using a Hilux vehicle, instead of the armoured personnel carrier (APC); perhaps the APCs were not available at the time. Unfortunately, his assailants waylaid his vehicle and shot him in the head.”
Eyewitnesses reported a fierce gun battle between the bandits and military personnel during the retrieval of the commander’s body, resulting in another officer sustaining gunshot injuries.
According to the source, “When the residents of the village alerted the security agents of the impending attack, the security personnel went and shot severally in the air without any response from the bandits, and by then the commander was on his way.
“When the security operatives fired some shots in the direction suspected of having the bandits, they left, thinking that no one was there, but by the time the commander arrived, they targeted him and shot him.”
The attack is the latest in a series of incessant banditry incidents in Kankara local government, forcing many communities to desert their villages. The 17th Brigade in Katsina has yet to comment on the incident.
