AT least seven officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have been reported missing after they were ambushed by Boko Haram in Kaduna State.
The officers were said to be conducting a patrol of the national grid installation in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. The area borders Kaduna State.
The spokesperson for the NSCDC, Afolabi Babawale, in a statement, said the NSCDC team, comprising nine officers and 71 others, was mobilised in response to recent attacks on power lines, a development that led to a blackout in the northern part of Nigeria.
Babawale said the attack occurred on Monday, November 18, in the Farin-Kasa area of the Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna State.
He added that the special squad neutralised 59 bandits in the process.
Afolabi said seven personnel of the Corps were still “missing in action” as of the time he issued the statement.
The ICIR reported how the northern part of the country experienced a total blackout due to repeated national grid collapses caused by bandit attacks on power infrastructures.
This led the NSCDC commandant-general, Ahmed Audi, to establish a special monitoring squad to address the issue.
According to Afolabi, a combined team embarked on a patrol of the national grid installation from Shiroro along some flashpoints and vulnerable areas.
However, they came across some stranded expatriates in the bush around the Dagwachi village axis returning from a mining site in the Tutu area of Niger State. The team helped to protect them through the Farin-Kasa Area of Chukun LGA in Kaduna.
“Unknown to them, over 200 armed Boko Haram elements had laid ambush on a vengeful mission against security operatives who they claimed had been giving them problems, and from the top of a hill located at Farin-Kasa, they opened fire upon sighting the long convoy of the NSCDC monitoring team using different sophisticated weapons.
“The combined NSCDC operatives in the ambush, however, not overwhelmed by terrorists, repelled the attack and successfully neutralized over 50 of the terrorists in the crossfire.
“Seven operatives of the NSCDC are currently missing in action, and efforts are currently underway to locate them in the bush, while a few others who sustained various degrees of injuries are currently undergoing treatment in a medical facility,” Afolabi stated.
He added that the NSCDC, as the leading agency in the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure, would not be cowed or deterred by terrorists or any group of saboteurs.
He added that the NSCDC commandant-general while awaiting the full brief on the incident from the officers on the field, described the attack as callous, unfortunate, and an attack too many on security operatives who have sworn to defend the country.
The ICIR reported that the Nigeria national power grid collapsed again on Thursday, November 7, marking the second failure in just three days and the tenth since February 2024.
The incessant collapse of the grid often throws various regions of the nation into darkness, disrupting businesses and essential services across the country.
A reporter with the ICIR
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