Justin Tyopuusu Jalingo

A joint military and police operation in Taraba on Wednesday killed 10 bandits suspected to be Fulani militia terrorising Taraba and Adamawa states.

At a joint press briefing at the Taraba Police Command headquarters in Jalingo on Thursday, the Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations, Falaye Olalayi; the Brigade Commander, 23 Army Brigade Yola, Brig.-Gen. B. A. Mohammed, it was gathered that the bandits were killed during an exchange of gunfire.

Olalayi told journalists that men of the Nigerian Army and the police got information that armed bandits had camped in large numbers at a border village between Adamawa and Taraba, terrorising the people around the area and quickly mobilised their men to the area.

According to him, the bandits engaged the team deployed in the area around the Katibu-Nega area but were overpowered by the joint force, killing 10 of them in the process.

“Ten of them were killed and exhibits such as guns of different kinds and four motorcycles were recovered from them.

“One suspect was arrested, while others escaped with bullet wounds into the bush.

“In our commitment to ensure the protection of lives and property in Taraba State, we have resolved to give bandits terrorising the people of Taraba State a thorough fight,” he said.

The police boss urged the public to look out for people with bullet wounds and report them to the police and other security agencies, even as he solicited the cooperation of the public in tackling security challenges in the state.

The suspect told journalists in an interview that he was arrested by the military in Dung village in Adamawa State with a dane gun on his way home from a village where he went with his friends to pay condolence visit.

The suspect who admitted he was not a member of vigilante and was not licensed to hold a gun, however, said he was innocent and had not committed any crime.

Items recovered included three AK47 rifles, two single-barreled guns, one double-barreled gun, one G3 rifle, two cutlasses and four motorcycles.

An army officer who participated in the operation told The PUNCH on condition of anonymity that the bandits were ambushed close to their camp, after they (army and police) got information that they were using the camp as their base to attack Adamawa and Taraba.

According to him the bandits were on their way back from Numan, Adamawa State where they attacked and killed people when they opened fire on them.

“Though the bandits were many and equally engaged us in a crossfire, we overpowered them and many of them escaped with bullets wounds,” he said.

TWO suspected drug traffickers in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Niger State Command have confessed to dealing in the illicit business.

The suspects, Muyideen Jimoh, 27, from Ogbomosho, Oyo State and Moses Oduaran, 31, from Ugheli, Delta State were apprehended for trafficking 1,459 kg of substance suspected to be Marijuana along Kontagora Local Government Area of the state.

The duo had attempted to sell some sacks of the narcotics in order to raise money for the repair of their broken down truck when they were nabbed.

Northern City News gathered that the suspects had agents in almost all the local government areas of the state that assist them in selling the narcotics.

Jimoh in an interview with our correspondent said he was an intermediary between Oduaran and his clients in the Rafi Local Government Area of the state.

“Once Oduaran brought the drugs from Ondo State to Niger, it is my responsibility to distribute and collect money on his behalf.

“In fact, I have been doing this for quite a number of years and it was yielding more money than my tailoring work,” he stated.

He added, “The agency couldn’t have caught us but for our truck that broke down along Tegina road. We wanted to sell two sacks containing 40 compressed blocks of dry weeds at Kontagora to raise money when we were caught.”

Oduaran told Northern City News that h