Bandits have killed four soldiers and set two military operational vehicles ablaze in the Gudu Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

It was learnt that the bandits laid an ambush for the troops in a border town of Sokoto, killing four soldiers in the attack on Saturday.

The Sole Administrator of the Gudu Local Government Area, Umar Balle, informed The PUNCH about the attack.

Balle, who spoke to our correspondent on the phone on Sunday, said he was with the military when the attack happened, adding that he escaped death by the whiskers.

According to him, soldiers engaged in a gun duel with the terrorists during the attack.

“So far, four soldiers have died; about six or seven others were wounded as a result of gunshots in addition to the burning of their vehicles.

“About six to seven soldiers sustained severe injuries as a result of the insurgents’ attack.

“The injured security personnel were initially attended to at Gudu General Hospital but they were later referred to the Usmanu Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital Sokoto on Sunday,” Bale told our correspondent.

According to him, two military operational vehicles were also burnt in the attack.

Efforts to speak with the authorities of the Nigerian Army, 8 Division, were not successful, but a source in the division, confirmed the development on condition of anonymity.

The source, who said only the Army headquarters in Abuja could officially speak about the incident, also informed our correspondents that more troops had been deployed in the area.

Efforts to get the reaction of the Sokoto State government were also not successful as the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Col. Ahmed Usman (retd.), could not be reached on his mobile line as of the time of filing this report.

PUNCH