Survivors of the Tuesday night attack on the convoy of the Deputy Governor of Kebbi State, Colonel Samaila Dabai told newsmen that 19 security operatives lost their lives in the gun battle that lasted for over two hours at Kanya village.
Kebbi State, northwest Nigeria, is said to be housing bandits loyal to Bello Turji, who operated mostly in Sokoto and Zamfara States.
Kanya, a village in Kebbi State, along Wasagu Local Government Area, is about 275km from the State capital.
The incident came barely 48 hours after bandits attacked a local vigilante group, during which they killed 63 persons around the Zuru Emirate in Kebbi State.
This informed the Deputy Governor’s visit to some of the communities on Tuesday.
“We fell into their ambush at Kanya,” Abdullahi Musa, a Special Adviser to the Kebbi State Deputy Governor said.
“It was a fierce battle. I have never seen such a situation in my life. You know the deputy governor is a retired military officer and still has some military techniques. This played out during the shooting.
“We were able to take cover, along with 36 top military officers in the convoy, who also accompanied the Deputy Governor for the condolence visit,” Abdullahi explained.
Another survivor of the attack, Idris Ahmed said “the Tuesday night attack was bloody.”
According to him, they were lucky to see the following day because many people died.
“The bandits were many indeed. Holding a well equipped military for two hours in exchange of fire power meant they were really out to fight.
“But our soldiers fought gallantry. They earned my respect. It would have been a different story if the soldiers had not stood their ground to save the situation,” Idris said.