An unspecified number of police officers have been killed in an ambush by suspected herders on Saturday night in Papa Ward of Darazo Local Government Area, Bauchi State.
Spokesman for the Bauchi State Police Command, Ahmed Wakili, confirmed the incident to Channels Television in a telephone interview on Sunday.
“It’s confirmed that our officers and men on routine patrol in Papa Ward of Darazo Local Government Area were ambushed by some herders,” he said.
“There were casualties during a dual exchange of gunfire between our personnel and the herders. Some of our officers have paid the supreme price.” Wakili added that the attackers also recorded casualties.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police is currently at the scene for an on-the-spot assessment, after which more details, including the number of casualties, will be made available.
Meanwhile, the PPRO also confirmed another attack around midnight on Saturday by suspected bandits in Saya village of Zalau Ward in Toro Local Government Area. The attack resulted in the death of 55-year-old Alhaji Muhammadu Bakoshi, an official of Jama’atul Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), and the kidnapping of three people.
A relative of the late Bakoshi, Arfashada Ahmed, told Channels Television via telephone that the bandits came on foot in large numbers and went straight to the victim’s house.
“They went directly to the rooms where his wives were. They met him in one of the rooms and shot him twice in the head and the chest,” he said.
The victim’s wife, 45-year-old Hannatu Bakoshi, and his 13-year-old daughter, Umaimah Bakoshi, were abducted during the attack.
Wakili further confirmed that the bandits invaded another village in the same Zalau Ward and abducted 20-year-old Mubarak Dayyabu.
The Commissioner of Police has directed the DPO and Area Commander of Toro, along with all divisional officers, quasi-security outfits, vigilantes, and hunters, to comb the forest for possible arrests and rescue of the victims.