BY VICTOR BUORO – The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Thursday confirmed that the Nigerian Military lost three officers, 22 soldiers, two pilots, and two crew members in the ambush by bandits and helicopter crash that occurred in Wushishi and Shiroro Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Niger state.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Major-General Edward Buba, who made the disclosure at the bi-weekly briefing at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, said the attack happened on August 14, when troops on operations responded to a distress call were ambushed by bandits in Wushishi LGA, crashed in Chukuba village, Shiroro LGA.
Aside from the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) fighter helicopter that crashed while conveying wounded soldiers from the incident scene, the operations also recorded the death of several military personnel killed by terrorists, who were abducting residents and rustling cattle at Kundu village near Zungeru.
In giving the breakdown of casualties in the ambush of troops in Niger State and an evacuation helicopter that crashed on August 14, 2023, General Buba however failed to officially confirm the possible cause of the crash.
But the Defence Spokesman explained that an investigation is still underway to determine the cause and urged citizens to be wary of propaganda by terrorists and remain patriotic.
According to him; “Our troops entered into an ambush in the general area of Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger state. The ambush led to a firefight which resulted in the death of three officers and 14 soldiers, while seven were wounded in action.
“As a result of this, there was a need for casualty evacuation whereby the air force helicopter was dispatched for evacuation of the wounded personnel inbound to Kaduna, and the helicopter crashed. It crashed with 14 bodies of the personnel previously killed in action, seven of the previously wounded in action personnel, two pilots of the helicopter, and two crew members”.
Troops in the Zungeru area of Niger state were ambushed by insurgents and some gallant personnel of the Nigerian Military paid the supreme price in the process
