Bandits attack Sokoto military base, kill several

Gunmen suspected to be bandits in the early hours of Friday attacked a military base codenamed “Burkusuma camp” in Sabon Birni local government area of Sokoto State and killed an unspecified number of soldiers.

Residents of the area and security sources told journalists on Sunday the bandits arrived in the military base in large numbers and started shooting sporadically.

“The bandits, who came in large numbers, surrounded the camp and started firing from different directions,” one of the sources said

A former chairman of Sabon Birni LGA, Idris Muhammad Gobir aka Danchadi, who confirmed the attack, said many security operatives in the military base are still missing.

He said the hoodlums also burnt down two patrol vehicles during the attack.

Gobir said: “We received the report on the attack from a resident of the area using Nigerien network.

READ ALSO: Youths accuse Sokoto commissioner of working with bandits, set house ablaze

“But I will still contact him for more updates on the attack and get back to journalists.”

A Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel confirmed that three staff of the agency were among the casualties.

“As I am talking to you, we are at the morgue to claim and recover their corpses for burial,” he said

The spokesman of the state police command, Sanusi Abubakar, said he was not aware of the attack.

However, the state’s Commissioner for Carriers and Security Matters, Col. Garba Moyi (retd), confirmed the attack.

But he said the number of casualties has not been ascertained.

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