Bandits were said to have fled from their hideouts around Kagarko, Iche, Taka-Lafiya Gidan Makeri and Janjala communities in Kaduna State after over 100 troops stormed the forest in Kagarko LGA.

It had been reported that many rural communities in Kagarko Chiefdom had been under siege by bandits who abducted residents and farmers a few months ago.

But the situation was said to have been contained after troops raided their hideouts and some rural communities and arrested some suspected informants.

A traditional title holder in Kagarko, Suleiman Aliyu, while speaking with our reporter through telephone on Wednesday, said the troops, who drove into Kagarko town at about 11 am on Wednesday in Hilux vans, trucks and motorcycles, moved straight to Iche, Taka-Lafiya, Gidan Makeri and Janjala villages around the forest to hunt down the bandits.

He said the troops moved in after they got intelligence information that some fleeing bandits from the far north were relocating to form a camp around some villages in the area.

Aliyu, while commending the effort of the troops, noted that since some informants were arrested a sigh of relief had come the way of residents of Kagarko Chiefdom.

A source from the palace of the Emir of Kagarko, who preferred anonymity, told our reporter that, “Yes; some troops in their large numbers entered the forest today, possibly raiding the bandits’ hideouts.”

There was no response from the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command over the incident at the time of filing this report. (Daily Trust)