Four of the attackers were killed after Operation FANSAR YANMA troops, along with local vigilantes, repulsed another terrorist attack on Mada town in Zamfara State’s Gusau Local Government Area.
This was revealed on Saturday by Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency specialist specialising in the Lake Chad region, in a post on his X account.
Makama said that the attack, which took place at around 10 p.m. on Friday, was the most recent in a string of bandit attacks that retaliated against the town following the death of a well-known local kingpin.
Makama was informed by a security source that the forces, acting on intelligence, immediately engaged the assailants in a hard gunfight, forcing them to flee into the forest while suffering bullet wounds, according to the report.
“The bandits stormed the town in an attempt to unleash terror, but the security forces and vigilantes responded effectively. We neutralized four of them, while others escaped with injuries,” the source said.
In addition, the security expert said that Naziru Bakanike Mada, a local, was shot in the shoulder during the altercation and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
“Friday’s attack marked at least the fourth attempt by the bandits to overrun Mada in revenge for the killing of notorious bandit leader, Alhaji Sani Dan Garin Bawo, by security forces in an earlier military operation.
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“Since March 11, to date, fighters loyal to neutralized kingpin headed bandits Dogo Hamza have carried out a large-scale retaliatory attack on Mada. However, security forces have consistently repelled their incursions, inflicting heavy casualties on them.
“Mada is their burial ground, let them keep coming and continue trying their luck and we shall continue sending them to their maker,” Makama said, citing a military official.
