Operatives of the Department of State Service, Niger State Command, stormed a house in Kulobe community in the Gbeganu area of Minna, Niger State, following a tip-off from neighbours, and discovered a large cache of AK-47 rifles and thousands of ammunition.
The suspected terrorist was said to have seen the operatives coming to his house through his Close Circuit Television camera and engaged them in a gun battle.
The incident happened on Tuesday between 1 am and 3 am when the suspect was said to have used a rocket launcher to bring down part of the fence of his house through which he disappeared into thin air, leaving behind his wife and children who were taken into custody by the security operatives.
According to a security source, who said he was in the house when the DSS was taking inventory of the weapons, over 150 AK-47 riffles, explosives, a rocket launcher, an anti-aircraft rifle, and ammunition, numbering over 3,000 were evacuated from the suspect’s house and carted away to the office of the DSS.
Some residents of the community and neighbours around the community, who confirmed that they heard the loud exchange of gunfire and the rocket launcher when it was fired, told The PUNCH that they had yet to recover from the shock of the incident.
“We thought bandits had invaded our community. The heavy sound of the guns between the terrorist and the security operatives were too heavy. Some of my electronics and furniture were destroyed. The loud noise sounded like there were many bandits,” he said
When The PUNCH visited the community on Tuesday, cracked windows, doors, roofing sheets, and walls of houses close to the suspect’s house could be seen indicating the impact of the shootout.
Empty canisters of bullets could also be seen littering around the neighbourhood while parts of some buildings were brought down by the magnitude of the guns.
It was learnt that the suspected terrorist, whose name was not immediately known, is an indigene of the central part of Kogi State.
He was said to have bought the house two years ago and he had been living there without interacting with neighbours.
It was further learnt that following the indiscriminate shooting by the suspect, a night watchman living next door, Mubarak Abubakar, was hit by a stray bullet and is currently receiving treatment at the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna.
The spokesman for the Niger State Police Command, Abiodun Wasiu, who was contacted, said he would investigate and get back to our correspondent. However, he had yet to get back as of the time of filing this report. (PUNCH)
