According to the Nigerian Army, soldiers from the I Division have taken out three bandits and found weapons in Kaduna.
In a statement released in Kaduna, Lt-Col Musa Yahaya, the Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations I Division of the Nigerian Army, verified the incident.
On November 12, troops from the Nigerian Army’s I Division and Operation Whirl Punch conducted a clearance operation in the general vicinity of the Maro-Chibiya forest in Kajuru Local Government Area, Kaduna State, based on reliable intelligence.
According to the Army, “troops engaged the armed bandits with superior fire power during the operation, neutralizing one of the bandits and forcing others to flee into the surrounding forest with gunshot wounds.”
According to the Army, the troops also took one mobile phone, four quantities of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition, one AK-47 rifle, and one locally made AK-47 rifle.
Yahaya added that on November 10, during a clearance operation at the villages of Kawara and Filin Jalo in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, troops from the division and Operation Whirl Punch came into contact with bandits in the Kawara forest.
One bandit was neutralized by the troops during the ensuing firefight, and they also found an AK-47 rifle loaded with quantity 30 of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition, a motorcycle, and a Tecno phone. Others managed to flee with gunshot wounds, the statement said.
He continued by saying that soldiers from the division carried out clearance operations at the villages of Mai-Kulu-Gwanda, Rafin Gora, Funtua Badadi, and Kabawa, which are located in Kaduna State’s Birnin Gwari Local Government Area.
He said, “Troops neutralized one bandit and took one Boafeng radio and a motorcycle during the operation.”
Yahaya reported that Maj-Gen. Valentine Okoro, the force commander of Operation Whirl punch and the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the I Division of the Nigerian Army, had praised the soldiers for their gallantry.
Okoro ordered the soldiers to keep up the pace until the Division’s Area of Responsibility was cleared of all bandits, terrorists, and criminal elements.