The police say they have lost two officers involved in a raid on a camp hosting members of the Ansaru terrorist group in Kaduna State.
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) in charge of Operations, Abdulmajid Ali, disclosed this on Friday two days after the security operatives battled the terrorists.
Ali, who revealed that 12 others suffered critical injuries, said they were already receiving treatment at different hospitals in the Kaduna State capital.
Speaking during a visit to one of the medical facilities, the DIG was pleased that the injured officers were stable and responding to treatment.
He stressed that not even the casualty on the side of the police would deter the force from crushing the bandits from their hideouts in all parts of the country.
According to the DIG, the Force is currently executing about 50 operations in the North-West and North-Central regions of Nigeria.
He explained that the operations were aimed at flushing out members of the terrorist group and other criminal elements from their camps.
On Wednesday, the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, said the police “successfully neutralised over 250 high-profile members.”
He noted that the operation was carried out following actionable intelligence linking terror and criminal elements in the camp to a series of terror-related violence, kidnappings, gun-running, cattle rustling, and other heinous crimes in the country.
Mba had confirmed that the bandits attacked a police bell helicopter, which provided aerial and intelligence cover for the ground troops, using sophisticated anti-aircraft rifles and GPMG.
Amid the reports that the aircraft was shot down by the bandits, the police spokesman said, “Commendably, the pilot and the co-pilot who demonstrated uncommon courage and expertise, successfully landed the aircraft at the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna without further incident.”
He, however, admitted that the two officers were injured but not “non-life-threatening” ones.
Although the police did not disclose the identities of the slain officers, it is unclear if any of the injured pilots is among those who lost their lives.
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