Nigeria’s military confirms 36 officers dead in bandits’ attack, helicopter crash

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said on Thursday at least 36 military officers died in two separate incidents in Niger State this week.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major-Gen. Edward Buba, stated this when he gave a breakdown of casualties in the ambush attack on troops and the helicopter crash at a Defence Media Operations biweekly media briefing in Abuja.

Reports emerged on Monday that some soldiers and an unspecified number of bandits were killed in a firefight at the Kundu community near Zungeru in the Wushishi local government area of Niger State.

The same day a helicopter belonging to the Nigerian Air Force crashed in the state.

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The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, who confirmed the incident in a statement, said the aircraft departed Zungeru Primary School en route to Kaduna but was seen in a village in Shiroro LGA.

The MI-171 helicopter was on a mission to evacuate victims of violence in Chukuba Village of Niger State when it crashed at about 11:00 a.m., in Shiroro.

At the briefing, the spokesman said an investigation into the accident was still underway and urged Nigerians to be wary of propaganda by terrorists.

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