Citing an internal army communication, the newspaper quoted a source as saying that soldiers dispatched from Katsina-Ala Local Government Area to deliver weapons to troops in Oju LGA (171km from Katsina-Ala) were overrun by an armed militia said to be from the Konshisha district of the state, in an attack believed to have occurred on Tuesday.
A stockpile of
military hardware with about N28 million cash has been reportedly carted away
by marauding bandits who ambushed a group of Nigerian troops on a reinforcement
mission to quell pockets of communal clashes in Benue State, Peoples Gazette
reports.
Citing an internal
army communication, the newspaper quoted a source as saying that soldiers
dispatched from Katsina-Ala Local Government Area to deliver weapons to troops
in Oju LGA (171km from Katsina-Ala) were overrun by an armed militia said to be
from the Konshisha district of the state, in an attack believed to have occurred
on Tuesday.
Senior military
officers said N28 million was also with the soldiers at the time of the ambush,
all of which the attackers cornered and disappeared into the night on the
fringes of the Benue River.
“Yes, the bandits
stole weapons and also about N28 million from the soldiers,” the senior officer
said.
“The entire situation
has been under investigation since the headquarters heard about it.”
The official said no
conspiracy was suspected on the part of the soldiers but said it was a “deeply
disturbing” situation that soldiers could be easily waylaid by a ragtag group
of bandits.
The source of the
money and its purpose were however not immediately disclosed.
The logistics team,
led by A.T. Adedayo, an army captain was reported missing, including a
general-purpose machine gun and over 2,000 rounds of ammunition.
Sources said the
ambush site was met deserted when a reinforcement deployed at Oju stormed the
scene following an alert.
A joint operation by
troops of 72 Special Forces Battalion and anti-banditry formation, Operation
Whirl Stroke (OPWS), was planned to be conducted in the area to rescue the
missing soldiers, a source said.
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