By Correspondent in Minna
The District Head of Wawa in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger state, Dr. Mahmud Aliyu, abducted by armed bandits about a week ago, has regained freedom and re-united with his family.
Our Correspondent gathered that though the Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), for the Police Command in the state, ASP Wasiu A. Abiodun could not confirm the cheering news,Aliyu regained his freedom Friday evening without any ransom paid to Kidnappers, according to sources.
In similar vein,the online publication also gathered that the Nigerian Army, over the weekend, made impressive in-roads toward ending siege on Niger as they pounced on scores of armed bandits who fled from the ongoing Military operations in Zamfara and Katsina states.
The bandits were said to have met their doom in the hands of soldiers at Maganda village near Allawa in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state.
In a futile attempt to escape through the notorious Allawa forest, a bush path linking Niger with states like Zamfara and Katsina, hundreds of bandits, reliable sources added, met stiff opposition in Allawa Military block.
At the end of the gun battle, the armed bandits were said to have suffered heavy casualty with scores of them neutralized while several others escaped into the forest with bullets wounds.
The source, who spoke to our Correspondent on telephone under the condition of anonymity, added that bandits that escaped with serious bullets wounds were being trailed at the time of this report by adequately and professionally manned soldiers.
According to the source,at least, six machine guns and an undisclosed number of AK 47 riffles and bags of assorted ammunition were recovered from the bandits.
Giving the picture of the bandit, he said that most of them were foreigners, by their ascent, language and appearance.
“In fact from the dead bodies we saw, they are not Nigerians, these are foreigners and virtually all of them carry long hair like women,” he said.
The source,who commended military for the gallantry, however, regetted a soldier who the supreme price in the fierce encounter with the bandits, noting that the bodies of the armed bandits littered the bush.
The online publication recalled that armed bandits, April this year, stormed the Military base in Alawa and caused the killing of five soldiers and a mobile policeman and after that, advanced into the community, killing no fewer than seven residents and abducted a number of others whose whereabouts remained unknown till date.
