Gunmen killed 13 soldiers, five policemen and a local militiaman during a pitched battle in northwestern Nigeria, where criminal gangs of “bandits” have been terrorizing the population for many months, it said. -we learned Wednesday from the security services.
The attack took place on Tuesday in the village of Kanya, in the state of Kebbi bordering Niger, the day after the death of several dozen militiamen shot dead by “bandits” in the same region.
On Monday, 57 members of a self-defense militia had been killed near the village of Sakaba, in the Zuru district of the same state of Kebbi.
According to witnesses, hundreds of “bandits” invaded Kanya in the district of Danko-Wasagu and clashed for more than three hours with a contingent of police and soldiers.
“There were 19 dead – 13 soldiers, five policemen and a militiaman,” a member of the security services told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that eight other people, including four soldiers, were injured and taken to the hospital.
“The pitched battle was very intense and lasted more than three hours, the terrorists had the upper hand thanks to their numbers,” he added.
According to a resident, Musa Arzika, who provided the same report, the attackers arrived in the village on board “some 200 motorcycles, three per motorcycle”.
“It is believed that these are the same bandits as those who killed the militiamen” Monday in Sakaba, he added.
Neither the army nor the police responded to AFP’s requests.
Northwestern and central Nigeria have for several years been the prey of multiple gangs of “bandits” who loot villages, kidnap people for ransom and sow terror among the population.