The Deputy Governor of Kebbi State, Samaila Yombe, has admitted that, bandits who attacked his convoy while on tour in Kanya in Danko Wasagu Local Government Area of the state gained upper hand because they (bandits) operated with sophisticated weapons.
Penpushing reports that, it is recalled that, the Deputy Governor was in the community to encourage security agents fighting the outlaws in parts of the state, when the bandits launched the bloody attack which claimed many lives.
The Deputy Governor, a retired military officer, who narrowly escaped death, while narrating the ordeal to journalists in Birnin Kebbi confessed that the attack was a serious battle, adding that the bandits mixed up with the people of the community, which made it difficult for the security agents to operate effectively
“Yesterday in Kanya, a very serious battle took place. What happened was that the bandits mixed up with the people of Kanya in such a way that it was difficult for you to say let us fight these people because the collateral damage would have been great’, he said.
“So, I advised the (Army) Commanding Officer (who was part of the convoy) that we should pull out of the town so that the bandits could follow. We did that but in the process, as you know in a battle situation, there is bound to be casualties. The bandits were vulnerable; we were also vulnerable and both sides recorded casualties. They had more casualties than we did,” he added.
Penpushing further reports that, he, however, commended the soldiers stationed in Zuru for what he called their bravery in dealing with the bandits, adding that the soldiers did their best because the bandits recorded more casualties.
“You know they (bandits) don’t leave their dead behind, if they must leave they set them ablaze. I saw one or two of the bandits sprinkling fuel on the dead bodies of their colleagues and set them on fire. Security agents even picked one or two of them but they came and recovered their corpses,” he said
“The bandits could be 150 to 200 but the unit (of soldiers) was of 30 to 32 officers. They did their best and they were only escorting their Commanding Officer who was with me. I commend their professionalism because I saw what I saw. Little as they were, they did a good job of confronting bandits as three times the soldiers. They (bandits) were all equipped with AKPs and heavier weapons than AK-47s. If not because of the terrain, the number of our casualties would not have reached that,” he added.
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