THE Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, is on his way to the Wushishi Local Government Area of Niger where bandits ambushed and killed troops.
News Point Nigeria had broken the news Monday that no fewer than 21 military personnel including senior officers were reportedly killed by the suspected bandits at Kundu via Zungeru in the Wushishi Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger state.
This newspaper gathered that 13 of them were killed in an encounter on Sunday, while eight others were killed on Monday in an ambush in which a two-star captain and a major were reportedly involved.
Also, there were unconfirmed reports that the crashed Nigerian Air Force aircraft was the handiwork of the bandits. The Air Force has yet to debunk or confirm the reports.
However, speaking in an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday, the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, confirmed there were casualties on the troops’ side but refused to give details.
He told our correspondent that attention should be on the families of the troops left behind and not the number of troops killed.
Onyema added that the Army Chief was on his way to the scene to motivate the troops.
He said, “I can confirm that there was an incident in Wushishi LG of Niger State. Our gallant patriots paid the supreme price when they ran into an ambush staged by insurgents. They were courageous till the end. They stood their ground and defended our great country with their lives.
“The focus now is how to console and bring respite to those they left behind. Sadly, the incident occured while the Chief of Army Staff is on an operational tour of the North-West Operations theatre for an on-the-spot assessment and reinvigoration of ongoing operations. He is currently headed to the affected formation to encourage the troops.”
