The Joint Military
Task Force in the early hours of Wednesday killed nine and arrested two
suspected Boko Haram members who attacked Tudun Wada Local Government, Kano
State.
The gunmen were
said to be making attempts to escape after they used explosives to attack a
police headquarters, the Divisional Police Officer and set fire to a nearby
bank when soldiers struck.
The
3rd Brigade, Nigeria Army General Officer Commanding, Brig- Gen. Iliyasu Abba, said the JTF who received a
distress call from the town raced to the area to confront the hoodlums,
stopping them from carting away money from the bank.
“We quickly
mobilised our men to the scene and that was how we successfully got them. Two
more gunmen were arrested”, he said.
He showed the two
arrested suspects and bodies of the dead to journalists put the weapons on
display at the Bakavu Barracks, Kano.
The weapons
included several pistols and AK-47 assault rifles, ammunition and police body
armour, seized after the shootout.
“We blocked both
ends of the roads to Tudun Wada and waited for the hoodlums, who came in three
vehicles. We laid an ambush for them, seized the vehicle,” Reuters quoted the
army chief as saying.
Abba advised the
residents to always maintain safe distance during combat operation to avoid
being hit by stray bullets.
He assured them
that the JTF would respond to any distress call and restore peace to troubled
areas in the North under threats from armed gangs.