Troops kill Boko Haram commander, 13 others in Borno

Kill dreaded bandit kingpin, Gudau, in Kaduna

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) have neutralised Boko Haram commander, Abu Hassan, and 13 other terrorists in the Mafa-Dikwa axis of Borno State.

Hassan and other fighters were killed after a soldier in the convoy patrolling the border road to Cameroun fired at the terrorists, who were reportedly fleeing.

Confirming the incident, yesterday, in Maiduguri, a counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed that Hassan led a Boko Haram robbery squad before they met their waterloo.

Makama said: “A terrorist, who was communicating with a commander in the camp of Abu Iklima, was heard stating that ‘the ‘infidels’ (referring to the troops) had killed 14 terrorists, including the commander. The soldiers fired at us while we were withdrawing from the battlefield in Now. We are on our way with the bodies of our members. We are coming to Gaizuwa for their burial.’”

He added that some of the fleeing terrorists were also wounded and needed emergency medical intervention to save their lives.
SIMILARLY, a dreaded bandit, Kachalla Gudau, who commanded a large gang of kidnappers and other criminals in Chikun, Kachia and Kajuru local councils, was among the bandits neutralised by Nigerian troops on Sunday, at Kankomi in Kaduna State.

The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, made this known, yesterday, in a statement.

Aruwan said diligent exploitation of human intelligence networks corroborated other pieces of available intelligence, which confirmed that Gudau was, indeed, one of those felled by the bullets of the courageous troops, as they repelled an attack led by the notorious bandit leader.

According to him, the remains of the bandit, who is said to have links with other notorious kingpins across the North West and North Central states, were retrieved in the Kankomi Forest where he bled to death.

He stated: “Credible sources reported that after his remains were retrieved, a large number of bandits under his command buried him in a location around Kaku Forest in Kaso general area of Chikun.

“The identity of another neutralised bandit, whose remains were found by the troops, has been confirmed as Rigimamme – one of Gudau’s trusted aides.”

The Guardian gathered that Gudau played a leading role in the kidnap of students and expatriates in Kajuru, Chikun and Kachia, aside the murder of kidnapped citizens and victims that resisted abduction.

Added to his nefarious activities, Gudau was reportedly engaged in coordinated attacks on herder settlements, disposing them of livestock, which made him the illegal possessor of large herds of cattle.