Operatives of the Department of State Services, Niger State Command, on Tuesday, stormed the house of a suspected terrorist in Kulobe community in the Gbeganu area of Minna following a tip-off from neighbours, discovering a large cache of AK47 riffles and thousands of ammunition.
The suspected terrorist was said to have seen the operatives coming to his house through his CCT device and engaged them in a gun battle.
The incident happened on Tuesday between 1 am. and 3 a.m. when the suspect was said to have used a rocket launcher to bring down part of the fence of his house through which he escaped leaving behind his wife and children who were taken into custody by the security operatives.
A security source said he was in the house when the DSS operatives were taking inventory of the weapons over 150 AK-47 riffles, explosives, a rocket launcher, anti-aircraft rifles and ammunition numbering over 3000.
Some residents of the community and neighbours who confirmed that they heard the sound of exchange of gunfire and the rocket launcher when it was fired told The PUNCH that they were yet to recover from the shock of the incident.
“We thought bandits had invaded our community. The sound of the guns between the terrorists and the security operatives was too heavy and loud, and some of my electronics and furniture were destroyed. The loud noise sounded like there were many bandits,” a source said.
When our correspondent visited the community on Tuesday, cracked windows, doors, roofing sheets and walls of houses close to the suspect’s residence could be seen, indicating the impact of the shootout.
Empty canisters of bullets could also be seen littered around the neighbourhood while parts of some buildings.
It was further learnt that a 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 of the Niger State Police Command, Abiodun Wasiu, when contacted said he would investigate and revert.
He was yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
