The troops of the 223 Light Battalion, 1 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, have killed 20 suspected cattle rustlers and armed bandits who planned to attack three communities of Ruwan Tofa, Babban Doka and Malele villages in Danasdau district of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Speaking to journalists at Dansadau area, a 100-kilometer drive from Gusau, the capital of Zamfara the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Aliyu Abdullahi Adamu, said the troops averted the attack as they ambushed the suspected rustlers who came in large numbers on motorcycles, fully armed with dangerous weapons. The troops, according to him, killed 20 of the bandits among which two were their commanders.
“We received information two days ago that armed bandits living in Dansadu forest planned to attack three communities and in a swift action the unit patrolled the areas and have encountered with them for the past 48 hours or more.
Today we were lucky the bandits were intercepted before the attack,’’ he said. He stated that the success recorded in the operation was in collaboration with the state police command, DSS, and other security agencies, adding that the army and other security agencies would continue to pursue the criminals up to their hideouts in the forests and other places. Some of the items recovered from the armed bandits after the encounter included 11 AK47 rifles, one G3 rifle, one locally made pistol, 11 magazines of AK 47 rifle, a magazine of G3 rifle and a total of 161 round of 7.62mm (special) ammunition. Col. Adamu however, explained that over the last four month since the army embarked on various operations against the armed bandits and cattle-rustlers in Zamfara state, it has being