Security Officers Feared Dead As Bandits Attack Sokoto Military Base

September 27, (THEWILL) – Gunmen suspected to be bandits have attacked and killed an unspecified number of soldiers in a military base codenamed “Burkusuma camp” in Sabon Birni local government area of Sokoto State

Residents of the area and security sources told newsmen on Sunday that the bandits arrived in the military base in large numbers on Friday and started shooting sporadically.

“The bandits, who came in large numbers, surrounded the camp and started firing from different directions”, one of the sources said.

A former chairman of Sabon Birni LGA, Idris Muhammad Gobir, who confirmed the attack, said many security operatives in the military base are still missing.

He said the bandits burnt down two patrol vehicles during the attack.

Gobir said: “We received the report on the attack from a resident of the area using Nigerien network. But I will still contact him for more updates on the attack and get back to journalists.”

Also, a member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Aminu AlMustapha Gobir, confirmed the attack, adding that 12 security personnel were killed in action.

A Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel confirmed that three staff of the agency are among the casualties.

“As I am talking to you, we are at the morgue to claim and recover their corpses for burial”, he said.

The state police command spokesperson, Sanusi Abubakar, said he was not aware of the attack.

However, the state’s Commissioner for Carriers and Security Matters, Col. Garba Moyi (retd), confirmed the attack. However, he added that the number of casualties has not been ascertained.

Meanwhile, a security source familiar with the attack said nine soldiers, three mobile policemen and three personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were killed; adding that many security operatives in the camp are still missing.

However, the source said nine soldiers fleeing the bandits’ assault were rescued by Nigerien troops at Basira, a border village in the Gidan Roumdji district of the Niger Republic.