From Molly Kilete, Abuja
In a daring and surprise raid, tactical teams of the Department of State Services (DSS) with back up from the Nigerian Military, have degraded about 45 bandits around Kuchi town, Munya Local Government (LGA), Niger State.
The operation, which was carried out in a stealth manner, marks yet another victory in the sustained offensives against bandits in the area. Security sources revealed that the DSS had with clear precision followed the trail of the bandits and prevented an invasion on the villages to orchestrate massive attacks, planned by a kingpin, Dogo Gide, and other bandits loyal to him.
According to the sources, intelligence diligently acquired from the agency’s renewed covert efforts revealed that the terrorists, who were from Bilbis forest, Maru LGA of Zamfara State and some parts of Kaduna State were invited by Gide to attack villages in the Kuchi area. “In the early hours of Monday,June 2,2025, bandits from Kaduna and Zamfara states, numbering about 100, heavily armed with sophisticated weapons, advanced towards Kuchi town in Munya LGA”. However, operatives launched a surprise attack and waylaid the bandits in the outskirts of Kuchi town. The operatives engaged the fleeing dissidents in a gun duel, which saw the elimination of the bandits, with several injured and motorcycles and ammunition recovered. Meanwhile, the reports also indicate that five of the DSS operatives sustained injuries and are currently hospitalised.
“This ambush which is a part of sustained offensives against the bandits, followed the earlier decimation of over 50 bandits, has dealt a heavy blow on Dogo Gide,who in the past months has been losing huge territories to the superior firepower and covert disruptions by operatives deployed to these troubled spots, “explained the source. Stating, “Serious heat has been turned on them, and we hope they will be sustained. We pray that these efforts, by the SSS that appear quite new and aimed at saving our communities from the bandits, will continue”
This success, which comes just after the dislodgement of several bandits by operatives of the agency, in the same LGA, will bring relief to the local communities.