MEMBERS of Nigeria’s military contingent preparing to ship out to the embattled nation of Mali had their two-bus convoy attacked by unidentified gunmen on Saturday, killing at least two of the soldiers even before they left Nigeria for the battlefield.
The attack took place along the Okene-Lokoja roadway in Kogi State at about 6.30am local time, and it involved the use of Improvised Explosive Device, known to military technicians around the world as IED.
IEDs are mostly crudely home-made explosive devices built to inflict maxium casualty on its target. It is a common weapon of choice by terrorists.
The soldiers had been traveling in a convoy of two military-owned luxury buses as part of the battalion of soldiers requested by the president and approved by the senate for deployment to the desert nation of Mali.
Although the names of the dead soldiers have yet to be released, their bodies have been deposited at the morgue of Federal Medical Center in Lokoja, Kogi State.
The attack follows the last one of August 6 2012 in Okene, in the same state of Kogi, where two soldiers lost their lives alongside 19 other Christian worshippers at a branch of the Deeper Life Bible Church.
The soldiers, based in the south were headed to Kaduna for training when the attack occurred in Saturday’s attack. One of the three bombs set in their way exploded while the remaining two were diffused by members of the anti-bomb squad.
One of the three bombs allegedly exploded, while the remaining two were defused by the Anti-Bomb Squad.
The incident resulted in heavy traffic along the Okene-Lokoja route as motorists spent hours on the road while security personnel barricaded the roadway. Motorists traveling on the route were subjected to thorough checks before waving them on.
Security is reported to be tight at the Federal Medical Center where the bodies of the two slain soldiers were deposited. A journalist with the Nigerian Television Authority had his equipment confiscated by stern-looking soldiers at the location.
Saturday’s attack at Abobo Village, about a kilometer outside the township of Okene.