Bandits have shot dead a soldier during exchange of gun fire in Akoti village near Kagarko town in Kaduna State.

It was learnt that three other soldiers and a civilian were injured in the incident.

A resident, Yahaya Ubaidu, who confirmed the incident through telephone on Wednesday, said it happened around 5pm on Tuesday when some soldiers engaged bandits in Akoti, one kilometre from Kagarko town.

He said the soldiers were alerted after the bandits rustled over 100 cows from neighbouring Kasangwai village and were passing through Akoti village. The soldiers arrived and a shootout ensued.

He explained that the soldiers who came to Akoti village in two gun trucks were taken unawares as the bandits opened fire, killing one of them and injuring three others in the process.

He further said, “One of the villagers who was trying to run to safety was hit by a stray bullet from the bandits and he is currently receiving treatment at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) in Gwagwalada.”

City & Crime visited the emergency ward of the hospital and saw the victim with bandages on his waist and stomach.

He told City & Crime that the bandits, who overpowered the soldiers, burnt down one of the soldiers’ gun trucks and escaped with the cows.

The Madaki of Janjala, Samaila Babangida, confirmed the incident to our reporter through telephone.

He said, “From the information I received this morning, the soldiers came from Kaduna to evacuate the three injured soldiers and the corpse of the one killed.”

There was no response from the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command on the latest incident.

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