Six corpses of themissing Nigerian military personnelhavebeen foundin Alawa area of Shiroro local government areaof Niger.

An eye witness who spoke on condition of anonymity stated that the soldiersinclude: one Captain, one Major and four others,were allegedly killed by the suspected Boko Haram sect members, not armed bandits.

They were said to have lost their ways while countering the criminals in the forest before their corpses were later found on Saturday in the bush without their uniforms on them and with bullet shots on their heads.

Earlier, the military joint task force of Alawa and Erenaalongwith some vigilante members in Shiroro localgovernmenthadswung into action and therefore engaged the suspected criminals in a gun duel at Lolo in Alawa axis of the council arealeadingto casualties from bothsides

A resident of the communityhowevercalled on governments at all levels to redouble efforts at providing security agencies with modern fighting equipment needed to defeat banditry and Boko Haram insurgents in the country.

Niger State Commissioner of Homeland Security, Brig. General Garba Abdullahi Mohammed (rtd) confirmed the incident but declined to mention the number of casualties, hehoweversaid efforts were ongoing to fight the Boko Haram insurgents group and others in the state. (Nigerian Tribune)