By Laleye Dipo
Three soldiers on Monday lost their lives in an encounter with bandits in Mariga town of Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State.
Two bandits lost their lives in the encounter.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, who disclosed this after a state security meeting held at the Government House on Tuesday, said many people escaped with varying degrees of injuries as a result of the encounter.
Bello said: “The three soldiers were killed by bandits and our security men are trailing them. I can assure you that they will be arrested soon. Some of the bandits were killed as two bodies have been recovered so far. I am very hopeful that in the next few hours or days, we should be able to apprehend them.”
The governor did not say how the encounter happened.
Bello stated that though, the state is still faced with serious security challenges, the security forces are working tirelessly to address the challenges especially in communities that recently suffered attacks by Boko Haram and bandits.
“Though, we have a lot of security challenges, I hope very soon, it will come to an end. The security forces are doing their best to tackle the situation. Presently, I want to commend our service chiefs and security agencies for a job well done so far,” the governor said.
He explained that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the attacks have being taken back to their communities and normalcy is returning to their villages.
“I have monitored the movement of IDPs to their villages today and everything has been going smoothly and there is no cause for alarm. We have gotten additional security personnel from Abuja to help secure our people,” the governor stated.
Reacting to the recent youth restiveness in Minna, the state capital, Bello described the development as unfortunate, adding that: “We just discussed the issue in our meeting and concluded that any youth caught creating chaos will be dealt with decisively.”
Some youth of Anguwan Daji and Limawa areas in Minna on Friday night engaged in a street brawl that left at least 30 persons injured.
It took the intervention of a combined team of security personnel mobilised from various formations to bring the situation under control that night.
