From John Adams, Minna
Nigerian Police special unit, Operation PUFF ADDER on Saturday recorded a major breakthrough in the fight against bandits, killing no fewer than 10 armed bandits when the gunmen lunched an attack on the Police camp at Kundu village in Rafi local government area of Niger state.
Several other bandits escaped with bullets injuries in the gun battles that eye witnesses said lasted for two hours. Two members of the Operation PUFF ADDER, an Inspector and a sergeant however fell to the bullets of the bandits.
The Bandits, said to be numbering over 100, and riding on about 30 motorcycles, invaded the Police camp situated at a primary school in Kundu village about two kilometers from Zungeru town at about 10am on Saturday and opened fire on the Policemen.
The Policemen who had being put on alert that the bandits were moving towards their direction in their large number with the intention to attack the camp, strategically positioned themselves before the arrival of the bandits.
According to a source close to the police camp in Kundu, the bandits emerged from a maize farm, 50 meters from the PUFF ADDER camp which they used as a cover to lunch their attack on the policemen.
A member of the village told our correspondent that after about two hours of heavy fighting, 10 of the bandits were killed and their bodies successfully evacuated by their members.
“Some of them were moving the bodies of those killed while others engaged the Policemen in the gun battle., adding that a woman was among the bandits killed and her body also taken away”, our source said.
Meanwhile the state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, accompanied by all the heads of security Agencies in the state on Sunday visited the scene of the attack where he assured the security agents of the government supports in the fight against armed bandits in the state.
The governor who commended the resilience and braveness of the Operation PUFF ADDER in repelling the attack on the village, said the state government has ordered for some equipment that will make the fight against those he described as “criminal elements” easier.
“We have ordered for some equipment that will reduce  casualties on the side of our security agents and make the fight against these criminals easier. Very soon those equipment will arrive”.
While assuring them that their efforts in ensuring the peace and security of the state will not be in vain, the governor promised that the government will do whatever it can to support the families of those Policemen that were killed in the attack.
The announced the donation of a cow to each of the police and Military camps across the state to enable them celebrate sallah away from their families.