The details of the attack on soldiers guarding President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have emerged.
Reports say that soldiers of the 7 Guards Battalion were on routine patrol along Kubwa–Bwari road on Sunday when they ran into the ambush by suspected terrorists in the nation’s capital city.
The terrorists were said to be headed to the Nigerian Law School in Bwari when they ran into the troops, leading to the exchange of gunfire in which three soldiers were injured.
Speaking on the development, the Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Guards Brigade, Captain Godfrey Abakpa, confirmed the attack but said the terrorists were successfully repelled.
He disclosed that the three soldiers were injured during the attack and have been evacuated to the NAOWA hospital in Abuja for treatment.
Abakpa also dismissed reports that five soldiers were whisked away by the terrorists.
“They were attacked and the attack was successfully repelled. We had a few wounded in action who have been taken to the hospital and are receiving treatments. No soldier was abducted,” he said.
But according to The Nation, the terrorists killed two officers and six soldiers attached to the Guards Brigade during the attack.
In a Brigade’s internal Situation Report (Sitrep) seen by the newspaper, the bodies of the slain military personnel were found on Tuesday evening.
The report said the remains of the missing in action Lieutenant and six soldiers were discovered by the search and reinforcement team deployed to comb the area.
It quoted the names of the two officers simply as Captain Samuel and Lt. Jauro, adding that the report was silent on the names of the others.
The report which was titled: “Ambush Against own Troops of Gds Brd,” confirmed that three soldiers were injured during the attack and evacuated to the NAOWA hospital in Abuja for treatment.
The report added that the terrorists were within Bwari to possibly carry out their plans of attacking the Nigerian Law School in the area.