At least four soldiers are feared to have been killed after suspected Lakurawa terrorists attacked Kebbe town in Kebbe Local Government Area of Sokoto State on Friday.
The attackers, reportedly numbering more than 300, arrived on motorcycles and engaged troops in a gun battle before moving into parts of the town, where they allegedly attacked shops, a hospital and vehicles.
The heavily armed militants reportedly entered Kebbe at about 10am, prompting soldiers stationed at a military base on the outskirts of the town to engage them.
According to The Punch, Bashar Altine, a security expert in Sokoto who confirmed the incident, said four soldiers were feared killed during the confrontation.
However, the reported casualty figure had not been independently verified as of the time of the report.
The spokesman of the Sokoto State Police Command, Ahmed Rufai, also confirmed the attack but said the command was still gathering information.
He could not confirm whether there were casualties or whether four soldiers had been killed.
Efforts to obtain confirmation from the spokesman of the 8 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt. Col. Olaniyi Osoba, were unsuccessful.
According to Altine, the militants moved into the centre of Kebbe after engaging the soldiers, particularly the Sabon Gari area, where they allegedly broke into shops and stole large quantities of mobile phones and bread.
The attackers also reportedly opened fire on a military vehicle equipped with a mounted rocket-propelled grenade, damaging three of its tyres and shattering its windscreen.
Altine said the militants later proceeded to the General Hospital, Kebbe, where they allegedly smashed the windows of vehicles parked on the premises, including the vehicle of the Divisional Police Officer and an ambulance.
“They also seized mobile phones belonging to patients at the hospital,” Altine added.
He further alleged that the attackers took four motorcycles belonging to residents before beginning their withdrawal from the town.
The militants reportedly left Kebbe in the evening through the direction of the police station and headed towards communities west of the town.
Altine said residents of villages west of Kebbe later reported that the attackers had entered Ungushi, a district within Kebbe Local Government Area.
Despite the reported gun battle with troops, there was no confirmed information that any of the attackers had been killed.
“As of the time of writing this report, we have not seen the body of even one Lakurawa fighter that the soldiers succeeded in killing,” he said.
The reported deaths of the four soldiers therefore remain unconfirmed pending official verification from the Nigerian Army or other relevant authorities.
