The Defence Headquarters reported on Tuesday that the criminals fell to the superior fire power of the joint security operation in the area.

Acting Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. John Agim, stated this while briefing newsmen in Gasau on Tuesday.

He said that several enclaves of the bandits were being destroyed by constant air strikes, which had led to the death of some of the criminals and arrest of some as well as rescue of some victims.

Agim said that Operation Sharan Daji launched in Zamfara, had been expanded to cover the entire state and local government areas in neighbouring Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Kaduna states.

He also stated that under the trans-border joint security patrol with the Niger Republic, bandits were followed into the neighbouring country and either neutralized or arrested to help in investigation.

“Although we lost one of our soldiers during encounter with the bandits in Zamfara recently where six others were wounded and receiving treatment, we have neutralized over 20 of the bandits and arrested 21 others.”

The defence spokesman also said that 1,444 cows, 473 sheep, 11 camels, 14 donkeys, 56 rams and 293 goats were recovered from the bandits and handed to the state government to return to the rightful owners.

Similarly, he said that 24 AK 47 rifles, two pump action guns, 4,798 rounds of 7.6 mm ammunition, local bullet prove jackets, bows and arrows and local charms were also recovered while two kidnapped persons were rescued.

Agim urged members of the public to continue to give credible information to security agencies on suspected persons or movements. (NAN)

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Akpabio said insurgents moved around freely during the reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the north-east.

Akpabio was in the PDP for more than 16 years — as a commissioner, governor and senator — until recently when he joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking during a Channels TV programme ‘RoadMap to 2019’ on Monday, he said insurgency was at its height under the previous administration.

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has come; it has shown a lot of commitment towards fighting insurgents,” Akpabio said.

“At that time when we were in charge, the PDP, I can tell you that so many communities and local governments across the north-east were under the control of Boko Haram. Their flags were flying everywhere, and they were moving around freely.”

He applauded the present government for curtailing the insurgency and expressed hope that other security issues in the country will be addressed.

According to him, “when a country is in crisis; when there is an emergency, all hands must be on deck … As nationalists, we want Nigeria to survive – it doesn’t matter the political party”.

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A triple bomb attack in northeastern Nigeria has left 14 people dead and more than a dozen others injured, authorities say.

The casualties occurred on Sunday evening, when three female bombers detonated their explosives in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

“So far, we have 14 people killed and 18 injured in the triple suicide bombings last night,” said Ahmed Satomi, from the Borno state emergency management agency.

No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the deadly attack; however, an anonymous militia source said the blasts came “hours after reports of sighting of a lot of Boko Haram members outside the city.”

Last month, at least 15 people were killed after suspected members of the Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group targeted an aid distribution point in Borno state.

The group claimed an attack on August 16 in Konduga, during which three female attackers blew up their explosives outside a camp for displaced persons. It killed at least 28 people and left more than 80 others injured.

Boko Haram has been largely pushed back out of its main strongholds in northern Nigeria, according to the country’s military and government. The group, however, is still active in its Sambisa Forest enclave in Borno state and launches sporadic attacks on civilians and security forces there.

The Nigerian military launched renewed counter-insurgency offensives after the end of the rainy season in northeastern Nigeria in September. Those offensives have clearly caused attacks by Boko Haram to drop, but the government warns that the group can still attack civilians at “soft” targets, including mosques, markets and camps for displaced people.

Thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced as a result of eight years of the Boko Haram insurgency, which has also affected Nigeria’s neighbors, including Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

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