The criminals stormed the town in their numbers, unleashing mayhem on unsuspecting security personnel with assorted sophisticated and dangerous weapons.
Bandits have killed about six members of the Joint Security Task Force in Allawa town, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
SaharaReporters learnt the incident occurred on Wednesday night.
A source in the area told SaharaReporters that the criminals stormed the town in their numbers, unleashing mayhem on unsuspecting security personnel with assorted sophisticated and dangerous weapons.
The source said when the criminals arrived at the town, they went straight to the Joint Task Force camp, razed it down and also burnt an operational vehicle stationed there.
According to him, the town has been relatively peaceful before the incident, noting that yesterday's attack was to dislodge security agents that currently provide security in the town.
He said, “Reports from multiple sources emanating from Allawa town in Shiroro local government, Niger State are not palatable at all as heartless, venomous and hydra-headed terrorists in their large numbers and heavily armed with assorted sophisticated and dangerous weapons stormed the town at midnight and went straight to the camp of the Joint Security Task Force stationed there.
“The criminals took the personnel of the Joint Security Task Force unaware and opened fire on them. In the process, unfortunately, they successfully burnt down the camp to ashes, including the operational vehicles and also gruesomely killed about six personnel (five Army officers and one civil defence officer) while many others sustained various degrees of gunshot injury. Understandably, yesterday's attack was mainly to dislodge security agents that are currently providing security to the town.
“For quite some times now, Allawa has been relatively peaceful. Before yesterday's attack, Allawa was one of the few towns standing in Lakpma axis of Shiroro local government area that have not been invaded in the recent past.
“We the affected victims view this phenomenon from the angle of ethnic cleansing as we have been abandoned to our fate. As a result of sheer negligence from the authorities constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of providing adequate security to the citizenry, there are deliberate efforts by criminals through crude means to depopulate us which from all indications, they are coasting to their target.”