By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Military commander of an army camp located at Sabon Garin Dan’Ali, in Danmusa local government area of Katsina state has reportedly been killed in an ambush.
Sources said the incident happened on the evening of Thursday, 24 April, 2024 and the corpse of the deceased, a major in the army, was deposited at a hospital in Katsina.
It was gathered from reliable sources that the commander, (name withheld), was ambushed at Malali village in Kankara local government area, where he was called to provide reinforcement to repel an attack on the village.
“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 Amoured Personnel Carrier (APC), perhaps the APCs were not available at the time. Unfortunately his assailants waylaid his vehicle and shot him in the head, ” the source said.
A resident, who pleaded anonymity, added that while retrieving his corpse from the scene of the incident, there was serious gun duel between the bandits and the military personnel during which the officer who picked the body also sustained gunshot injury.
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 at the direction suspected to have the bandits, they left, thinking that no one was there, but by the time the commander arrived, they targeted him and shot him.”
Kankara local government has come under serious attacks in recent times, with villages deserting communities there due to incessant banditry.
As at the time of filing in this report, the Public Relations Officer of the 17 Brigade in Katsina, Oiza Ehinlaidlye, has yet to comment on the incident.
