Niger state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello has condemned the terrorists attack on joint security operatives at a mining site in Ajata-Aboki, a community in Gurmana Ward, Shiroro local government area of the state that led to the killing of many security personnel and the kidnap of unspecified number of workers at the site, including four Chinese nationals.
The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mary Noel-Berje on Thursday, commiserated with heads of the various security agencies that were part of the joint security operatives in the state for the loss of their personnel while ensuring the safety of people.
The governor also sympathized with the families of the slain security agents, assuring them that the sacrifices of their loved ones will not go in vain.
He commended the bravery of those who engaged the terrorists, causing them to record casualties and acknowledged the efforts of the joint security operatives, which with the support of his administration, had brought relative peace in the affected areas in the state.
While urging the security personnel not to be not to be dampened by the incident on their colleagues, he encouraged them to remain committed in discharging their duties and ensure the safe return of the four Chinese nationals and unspecified number of workers kidnapped at the mining site.
Meanwhile, Sani Bello has directed a manhunt on the remaining terrorists to ensure they do not escape.
“This is really disturbing especially as the state has been relatively peaceful with only pockets of attacks being recorded as compared to some time past.
“It really saddened my heart to hear about this. It is even more worrisome to know that lives of security personnel were involved and expatriates were also among those kidnapped.
“My heart goes out to the family of our security men killed, I pray that Allah will grant them Aljannah Firdausi and quick recovery to those injured,” the statement reads.
