Terrorist attack on Shiroro mining site, direct affront on Nigeria – Buhari

… Vows atrocity won’t go unpunished

A yet-to-be-confirmed number of soldiers have been killed by bandits during an exchange of fire in Niger State, Nigerian Army authorities said on Thursday.

The Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja confirmed that the incident occurred on Wednesday.

Recounting what transpired, he explained that troops deployed in Niger State responded to a distress call that a mining site in Shiroro Local Government Area was under attack by bandits.

the attack was on the mining site located at Ajata-Aboki in Gurmana Ward of Shiroro LGA.

Sources said upon arrival at the scene, the gunmen who were wielding AK-47 rifles opened fire on the people at the site, killing several persons in the process.

They identified those killed as seven policemen probably attached to the mining site as guards and six other civilians, while an unconfirmed number of persons, including four Chinese nationals, were missing.

Stressing that soldiers nearby moved to repel the assailants, the sources said several of them were killed by the bandits with nearly 30 bodies recovered from the bush.

While the army authorities did not confirm this account, they cautioned social media users against sharing clips of the incident online.

President Muhammadu Buhari has described the attack in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State as a direct assault on Nigeria which will not go unpunished.

In a statement by his media aide, Malam Garba Shehu, on Friday in Abuja, President Buhari paid tributes to the gallant men of the security forces who lost their lives in the process of defending the attack.

The president said: “We honour our security forces, and particularly those brave souls who have given their lives fighting against the evil that is terrorism. They constitute the best that Nigeria has to offer and we remember each of them.