A bandit was killed when the personnel of the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Akure, foiled a kidnapping and robbery operation along Ibilo-Isua Road in Igarra village in the Akoko North-West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The Commander of the brigade, Brigadier-General Zakari Abubakar, disclosed this on Wednesday in Akure.
The army boss explained that the troops, who were on patrol with other security agencies, run into a group of hoodlums suspected to be kidnappers while they were attempting to abduct some travellers on the road.
He said, “The bandits attempted to kidnap three travellers in a gold-painted Toyota Highlander 2006 model with number plate, AKD 55 GS.
“On sighting the troops, the kidnappers tried to engage them in a gun battle, but were defeated due to the troops’ firepower. This resulted in the killing of one of the kidnappers, while others escaped into the forest with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.”
Zakari stated that three of the kidnapped victims were rescued and some items were recovered at the scene of the incident.
He added that N350,770, a cutlass, 11/2 sachet of tramadol hydrochloride(100mg) and one Itel phone were recovered.