Mayhem in Kogi as Soldiers Battle Insurgents, 16 Feared Dead


It was a horrendous moment for a detachment of soldiers
attached to Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State
yesterday, when an early morning raid on a hideout suspected
to be occupied by Islamists led to a fierce gun battle leaving
over 15 insurgents and one soldier dead.
Though unconfirmed by the military, trouble was said to have
started when one Aminu Nasiru, who was arrested in Benin, Edo
State, on suspicion of being an insurgent, escaped from
detention to a mosque used as a hideout in Okene, where some
of his gang members who allegedly attacked the Department of
State Service (DSS) office in Lokoja last month, were holed up.
Getting a lead on where Nasiru was said to have taken refuge at
the mosque run by a Shiite sect at Inike Idozi ward in Okene, the
soldiers on raiding the hideout were attacked by the trigger-
happy fundamentalists.
THISDAY gathered that the leader of the insurgents, who was
armed with an AK47 rifle and other dangerous weapons, was
initially caught napping.
One security source disclosed that the sect, which allegedly has
links with like-minded Islamists in Iran, was said to have had a
large amount of money in both foreign and local currency at the
time of the raid.
The source added that the fundamentalists who later mobilised
other members shortly after the raid, set ablaze the soldiers’
operational vehicles and other belongings.
The soldiers, who later called for reinforcement, set ablaze the
mosque which the insurgents allegedly use as their operational
base to commit all sorts of atrocities.
The source said that it was during the confrontation that 15 of
the insurgents were mowed down by the troops while one
soldier was killed.
Efforts to speak with the spokesperson of the Chari Maigumeri
barracks in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, proved abortive while
the Police Public Relations Officer PPRO), Williams Aya, said it
was a military operation, adding that he was not competent to
speak on it.
As at press time, calm had not been restored to the area.

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