Troops of Operation Forest Sanity on Tuesday said its operatives ambushed and neutralised two bandits in Kaduna state.

The spokesperson for 1 Division Nigerian Army, Lt-Col Musa Yahaya, confirmed the incident in a statement in Kaduna.

Mr Yahaya said that following a tip-off from a human intelligence source, troops ambushed and successfully neutralised two bandit leaders capturing arms, ammunition and other equipment.

According to him, earlier, an intelligence source revealed that a bandit leader named Isiya Danwasa intended to send his errand boy Yunusa to purchase some arms and ammunition in Kaduna town.

“Subsequently, the errand boy was trailed and picked up by plain cloth soldiers and later used to lure two of the bandits’ leaders to a selected ammunition collection point.

“Upon their arrival, troops who had laid ambush engaged the criminals with superior firepower and neutralised them,” he said.

He said items recovered from the bandits included one motorcycle, two AK 47 rifles, six AK 47 magazines, 250 rounds of 7.62 mm special, one power bank, two charm vests and N200,000 (two hundred thousand naira).

“The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division Nigerian Army and Force Commander Joint Task Force Operation Whirl Punch, Maj-Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, has commended the troops for their professional conduct and perfect execution of the task.

“The GOC appealed to the general public to continue to avail the troops and other security agencies credible and actionable information, to bring banditry, kidnapping and other crimes to a lasting end,” he said.

(NAN)