Fourteen armed bandits were killed during a gun duel with the police in the Katsina-Ala town, Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
DSP Catherine Anene, the Benue State Police Command spokesperson, confirmed the report adding that 14 of the bandits were gunned down by the Police during the attack.
“On 19th June 2021, five bandits were arrested and detained at Kastina-Ala Police Division for investigation and prosecution.
“On 20th June 2021 at about 0130hrs, more than 50 other gang members of the detainees mobilized and invaded the police station to rescue their counterparts.
“Officers at the division who were already at alert engaged them in a gun duel and were able to subdue the bandits.
“Fourteen (14) of them were brought down during the exchange of fire while several others escaped with gunshot injuries.
The PPRO said that security operatives were currently on the trail of suspected armed bandits who are now at large, and urged the people of Kastina-Ala town to remain calm and avail the command of every useful information about the bandits to the police.
However, in a report by Punch, a source from the town who simply identified himself as Kajo said that the bandits numbering about 50 had driven in Toyota Corolla vehicles popularly known as ‘duck nyash’ to the police station.
“We started hearing gunshots around 1:30 am today (Sunday) around the police station in Katsina-Ala town, everybody in the neighbourhood was woken up with the sporadic gunshots and praying to God.
“It was around 5:00 am that some leaders in the area visited the station after they had contacted the Divisional Police Officer, DPO.
“Surprisingly, the police gunned down over 10 of these bandits while many of them escaped with gun wounds. We also heard that two of them were captured alive,” the source said.
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