THE Police in Kaduna State have repelled a terrorist attack in Sabo Tasha, Chikun Local Government Area (LGA).
This was disclosed in a statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mohammed Jalige, who said that the security operatives had acted on a distress call by a resident on Saturday.
“In the early hours of Dec. 11, at about 0105 hrs, the Kaduna Police Command, through Divisional Police Officer at Sabon Tasha Division, acted on a distress call received from a good Samaritan to the fact that some suspected bandits numbering about 30, were in the area,” he said.
Jalige noted that the Police had collaborated with other security officials and engaged the terrorists in a gun battle.
“On receiving the distress call, operatives were immediately mobilized with the support of other security agents to the scene with a view to thwarting the intention of the bandits. The criminals, on sensing the presence of security agents, started shooting indiscriminately,” he said.
The PRO said the terrorists fled the location during the gun battle. He, however, noted that the terrorist attack had been carried out simultaneously with an abduction within the same area.
“Unfortunately, it was discovered that the bandits operated simultaneously with another gang at oil village in the same Sabo location where they kidnapped a woman and her four children to an unknown destination,” he said
He said investigations had commenced into the kidnap, and efforts were being made to rescue the victims.
Kaduna State has witnessed high rate of kidnapping and other terror attacks in recent years.
Though telecommunications were shut down for weeks in some areas of the state as part of measures to tackle insecurity, kidnapping and terror attacks have persisted, especially in areas such as Sabon Tasha.
Last week, the Police had confirmed the killing of two persons by terrorists and the kidnap of at least 20 others in Sabon Tasha.
Jalige had said the attack was carried out at about 1.00 AM before security operatives could arrive at the scene.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.