Two soldiers were yesterday killed in Kano during a confrontation between a combined team of the Kano Joint Task Force (JTF) and the Directorate of State Security with suspected Boko Haram members. Five members of the militant group were also killed. The shootout, which took place at Hotoro Dan’marke quarters and Brigade quarters in the early hours, lasted for about three hours, during which the residents were gripped with fear and panic.
Some of the residents told our reporter that the combined team stormed two residences where the suspected terrorists were living, leading to the gun battle. Items recovered from the hideouts of the terrorist gang include 2 AK47 rifles, 458 rounds of 7.62 special and 6 AK47 rifle magazines.
Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, the Kano spokesman of the JTF, said in a statement that intelligence reports indicated that the terrorists were in the process of finalizing plans to carry out simultaneous suicide attacks in Abuja and Kano.
“The proactive reactions of the JTF have denied the terrorists freedom of action in Kano and from using the state as a spring board to launch attacks on other parts of the country. This is due to the cooperation the JTF is receiving from members of the general public. The recent rise in activities of members of the terrorist sect may not be unconnected with the increase in pressure being mounted on them by troops in the North Eastern axis and their desperation to make loud statements of their presence,” he said.
He urged members of the public to go about their normal businesses without fear as the JTF has increased its patrols to cope with the pressure of the ember periods and fleeing terrorists.
“However, worrisome is the ease with which terrorists secure accommodation easily in Panshekara, Ja’en, Mariri, Farawa, Hotoro, Sherada, Brigade and other outskirt areas in the state despite appeals by the JTF to property owners to desist from renting their properties to persons with questionable identities. The JTF in Kano would not allow the state to be used as haven for terrorists.”
He warned that those appeals having fallen on deaf ears, the JTF would not only continue to destroy any such properties found to accommodate terrorists but will also arrest their owners and treat them as accomplices even if they do not reside in the property.
He called on all residents of Kano not to relent in the fight against terrorist elements who are seeking refuge, and to continue to report any suspicious persons regardless of gender for immediate action so as to prevent loss of life and property.
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