THE Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Thursday, August 17, confirmed that 36 officers were killed in the recent terrorist attack that happened in Shiroro Local Government Area, LGA, of Niger state.
The DHQ made this known at the biweekly briefing of the Defence Media Operations.
The ICIR reports that bandits in a recent attack caused havoc at Chukuba and other neighbouring villages of Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger state, with the recent incident starting on Friday, August 11 and lasting till Monday, 14.
The terrorists were said to have ambushed and killed an unconfirmed number of soldiers along the Zungeru-Tegina road in the Madaka Ward of the Rafi Local Government Area of the state.
Similarly, some terrorists affiliated to Abubakar Abdallah, popularly known as Dogo Gide, subsequently claimed responsibility for the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) helicopter that crasheď on Monday, August 14, in the region. The armed terrorists made the claim in a video obtained by WikkiTimes.
The helicopter was on an evacuation mission when the incident happened. According to reports, the crash led to the death of several soldiers.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, a major general, Edward Buba, while giving a breakdown of casualties in the ambush of troops and the crashed helicopter in Niger state, disclosed that Nigeria suffered a loss of 36 soldiers.
In response to inquiries about the helicopter cause of the helicopter crash, he reiterated that an investigation is still underway to determine the cause and urged citizens to be wary of propaganda by terrorists and remain patriotic.
Meanwhile, after the conference, while addressing journalists, he said, “Our troops entered into an ambush in the general of Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger state. The ambush led to a firefight which resulted in the death of three officers and 22 soldiers, while seven were wounded in action. As a result of this, there was a need for us to embark on a casualty operation whereby the Air Force helicopter was dispatched.
”While that process was on and inbound to Kaduna, the helicopter crashed. In the crash were 14 of the previously killed in action personnel in that ambush, seven of the previously wounded in action personnel, two pilots of the helicopter and two crew members. ”
He, however, vowed “injurious consequences ” on the bandits for attacking the troop.
The Nigerian Air Force spokesman, Edward Gabkwet, had on Monday, said efforts are currently ongoing to determine the probable cause of the crash.
“Efforts are currently ongoing to rescue the crew and passengers on board the helicopter, while preliminary investigations have commenced to determine the probable cause of the crash,” the statement added.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M
My Condolence to the Family of Soldiers that had been killed In Shiroro when they re Operation to Rescue Victims’ 36 Soldiers that had killed it’s show us that Terrorist taken their Position on Seriously’ my advise to Military it’s good to deploy a good Intelligence Report before Deployed the Troops! Oumer Security Analyst and Diplomacy Expert”