Bandits terrorising the Kebbi/Zamfara/Niger axis have been dealt a serious blow by security operatives tasked with rescuing abducted students and teachers of Federal  Government GirlsCollege, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi state..

As many as 80 of the bandits are feared killed during a raid on their enclaves in the forests of Sakaba Local Government area of Kebbi State by soldiers who went after them late Thursday.

An Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) had detected the bandits’ hideouts.

“The bandits failed in their attempt to ward off the troop’s attack. Many of them were annihilated, while others fled with injuries”, a military source told PRNigeria.

Speaking on the encounter, the Deputy Force Commander, Joint Taskforce of Operation Hadari Daji, Air Commodore Abubakar Abdulkadir, said the bandits were forced to abandon seven of the abductees by the heat of the gun battle.

Abdulkadir said: “In the early hours of this morning, we came across the kidnappers. They came to our blocking point and we engaged them.

“At that point, they abandoned five of the students and one of the teachers. Unfortunately, I think we lost one of the students.”