A gun battle between soldiers and bandits has resulted in the death of three persons on Sunday. 

It was gathered that soldiers of the Operation Whirl Stroke killed three of the suspected bandits at Adaka, a suburb of Makurdi town, the capital city of Benue after they had stormed a community in the state. 

The suspected bandits numbering about 10 invaded the community around 8.00 pm and shot at a man and his wife. A local from the area who identified himself as Apile said that the man and his wife ran into them and were shot but escaped. 

He explained that the couple ran into the community and alerted people, which promoted leaders in the community to alert troops of Operation Whirl Stroke who were on patrol of the area. According to Apile, 

“In fact, if not for the prompt intervention of the military, something terrible could have happened. The military engaged the bandits in a heavy gun duel and at the end, we saw them with three dead bodies.

“The bandits were armed with sophisticated weapons.“We sincerely thank the Military personnel for their action and we are appealing for more deployment of security to our area to avert further attacks. When contacted, Commander of OPWS, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, said his patrol team had an encounter with some armed bandits around Adaka community.

 “Our troops are on top of the situation and will do everything possible with other security agencies on ground to protect the people,” Gen Yekini stated.