TheCable

Samaila Yombe, deputy governor of Kebbi, says the bandits who attacked his convoy were very difficult to fight because they mixed with residents.

On Wednesday, the deputy governor and his entourage were attacked by bandits at Kanya in Dangu Wasagu LGA of the state.

During the attack, there was an exchange of gunfire between the bandits and security operatives, which led to many casualties on both sides.

Narrating his ordeal to journalists, the deputy governor, on Thursday, said it was a “serious battle” with the bandits.

Yombe added that he informed the army commanding officer who was part of the convoy to pull out from the area in order to move the bandits away from the people.

“To narrow down to your question. What happened? A lot has happened. We have been supplying necessary logistics to the security agencies to carry out their jobs in the process. In the process, I have to go see the military on the battlefield to see how they were executing that mission,” he said.

“Yesterday at Kanya, a very serious battle took place. What happened was that the bandits mixed with the inhabitants of Kanya in such a way that it was difficult for you to say let us fight these people — the collateral damage would be great.

“So, I advised the CO (referring to the army commanding officer in the entourage) that let us pull out of the town so we will pull them (referring to Bandits) along to separate them from the inhabitants.

“We did that but in the process, of course in a battle situation, there are bound to be casualties. It is in process of disengaging them from the town to a more suitable place… they were vulnerable, we were also vulnerable, that is why both sides sustained casualties. Believe me, honestly, they had more casualties than we did.”

The deputy governor added that the bandits were armed with weapons more sophisticated than AK-47 rifles, while commending security agents for showing strength to fight the bandits.

“From the gunshots one can assume and assess that there are about 150 or 200 bandits and the soldiers were simply a unit of about 30 to 35 troops escorting the commanding officer whom I joined to visit the troops as I earlier mentioned.

“In terms of strength they were all overwhelmed because of that it was impossible for the troops to manoeuvre. Again, fighting when the bandits have mixed up with the civilians we have to be careful.

“They (referring to soldiers) were up against more than 100 to 200 bandits all equipped with AKPs and relatively much heavier calibre weapons than AK-47s.”

The incident happened two days after more than 60 vigilante operatives were killed in some Kebbi communities following an invasion by gunmen.