Musa Mohammed, a resident, said that the robbers also took the fallen soldiers’ uniforms and firearms.

The bodies of the slain soldiers have been placed at the Sir Yahaya General Hospital in Birnin Kebbi, according to Mohammed.

According to him, the deputy governor was on his way to Kenya village with the Commanding Officer, Zuru Army Barracks, to express condolences to the area’s residents following the bandit killings of 67 vigilante members last Monday.

Mohammed said the deputy governor was attacked in Kenya village around 8pm on Tuesday by bandits who stormed the village on hearing the news that he (the deputy governor) was in the village.

“Immediately the bandits arrived the village, they opened fire on the deputy governor’s convoy and the security personnel attached to him also retaliated,” he said.

He added that the bandits, who were in large number, overpowered the deputy governor’s convoy, killing 15 military personnel and a policeman.

According to him, an undisclosed number of civilians died as a result of the attack.

He went on to say that while the deputy governor was unharmed, his Chief Security Officer, SP Nafiu Abubakar, was killed on the spot.

Abdullahi Yalmo, the deputy governor’s chief press secretary, could not be reached for comment at the time of filing this report.